I have a 89 RS with a L03 engine in is (that is the one out of the trucks isnt it?) and when I built the engine and put it in everything was new; water pump, themostat, coolant, hoses, and the radiator was dipped and cleaned and new plastic sides put on, and I had to get a autometer temp gauge, and when im going down the road the temp stays at about 180 or a little bit higher, but when im sitting still or in traffic it goes to about 220 or so and thats when the fans kick on somewhere around there, and the fans cool it down a little, before they shut off, is this the normal cycle for the temp ranges in these cars, like I said everything was new about 4000 miles ago, thanks alot for any help!

 

Yes. That is 100% normal operating temp. Maybe guys like to have the car run cooler. But what you stated is totally healthy stock set up in terms of temps.

 

Yep that is very normal indeed. My 84 L69 runs at 190degrees most of the time at the t-stat housing, and 220 at the passenger head sensor. (yes. i have 2 temp guages because i replaced my dash with a digital one and found the temp guage in the original was the only thing wrong and i had installed a second one before i did the swap).. So 220 is very very normal for our cars.. now if you were at 250 or 260 that might not be to good...