Is there any other areas for a temperature gauge beside the driver's side head near the front (stock location for gauge), the passenger's side head near rear (stock is plugged), or in the waterpump?

 

I put my temp guage in the LT head had to take out the sending unit to the car and left it off. You could get a "T" for it but I have long tubes and it looks tight and I dont need both of them.

 

I needed an extra coolant temp sensor, so I added a brass tee in the line from the back of the heads to the radiator. See photo:

Temp sensor in coolant line

 

You could put a dual sensor (from a later model Chev.) in the water pump which frees up the hole in the head for a sensor. BTW, you see the temps fluctuate a lot more when the gauge reads the temp in the head. My gauge reads the water in the pump, same as the computer sees and it never goes over 214. When it was in the head temps regularly passed 225 before the fans would switch on.

 

Isn't the temperature in the head more realistic though? In my LT1 swap I don't need the sender for the original gauge, I want to use the gauge for my truck, but it's capillary tube is too short and doesn't reach any further than near the rear of the engine.

 

For the average driver, I think the block temp best represents what is going on. tha being said, for a drag race situation, I think the head temp is most important which wi probably what Chevrolet had in mind all along.