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SBCs need considerable coolant flow through the block before the thermostat opens to maintain even cooling, and the small bypass passage in the water pump isn't enough to do it. It's not unusual to block off the heater core and have the temp gauge cycle high-low-high-low a few times before the stat opens and stabilizes the engine temp. Search here, you'll see guys complain about it, and I've seen it more than a few times. I think this is why some cars (A/C) have a big bypass hose on the top of the WP- they have a shutoff valve in the heater hose when the A/C is on. If you don't have the big bypass hose on your WP you may have the temp cycling issue during warmup until your stat opens.
My 64 had two on it rusted in the shut off position. When I cleaned up the heater hoses and A/C hose spaghetti bowl I flushed a lot of rust flakes out of the core , probably from the crappy valves. I used a stainless gate valve and SS hose nipples. I also added in a filter in the upper radiator hose to catch crap for awhile so it does not plug up the radiator!
I think I saw the silicone caps on Ebay or Amazon .
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
