Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

what is the normal water temp on the early 67 1600? mine hovers around the 190/200 mark at idle. sometimes it will move to around 210.

That sounds a little hot. You might replace the thermostat with a 180 degree one. My 2 liter runs about 160 even on a 107 degree day. You might also look for a bad headgasket, or check the timing, you might be set a little retarded.

Will

i have a new 180 thermo installed. should u be using a cooler one? is there a cooler one?

180 degree should be good. I'd check your timing, I run 20 degrees advance at idle. I'm not sure what a 1600 should be set to however

Yep, you are running a little on the warm side. 190 to 195 is okay for a 1600. You might want to verify your temperature gauge is correct first though. They have been known to give false readings. Get yourself a cooking thermometer. Run the car up to temp. Shut it off. Release the pressure in the system at the overflow and remove the filler cap. Pop the thermometer in and take a reading.
If it is hot go from there. You may not have a problem You can always put an aftermarket gauge in to monitor the temp over a longer period of time.

There are several things to check for high temp and they are here http://www.311s.org/tech/engine/cooling.html

Timing for a 1600 should set at 16 degree BTDC at around 600 RPM.

Steve

Then again... the thermostat could be bad. Sometimes one in a million that even a new one might be bad.