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Looks like your on the right track.
Wes

An oxalic acid (available at any paint or good hardware store) solution is the classic standard for chemically cleaning radiators, far more effective than vinegar. It was the active component in the old standby DuPont's No. 7 Heavy Duty Radiator Cleaner. And don't forget a neutralizing rinse (something like sodium bicarbonate) when you're done soaking and rinsing. It's been discussed quite a few times here, do a search and you should find some particulars.

The vinegar helped, but not as clean as I had hoped. Went and got some prestone rad cleaned and have done the same thing. When I get to wash it out it wull have sat for approx. 50 hours. Hope it will loosen a bit more. Then it wil be install the new pump, the rad and fill for a test run. Here's hoping all is good!

I await with interest you final conclusion. To my mind 50 hours is a long time for an acetic acid (vinegar) soak and I hope it hasn't seriously attacked any of the solder joints adversely.

It was only 36 hours for the vinegar, about 50 hours for the prestone cleaner. Got everything back together today and went for a drive. I've said this before....so far, so good. Temp gauge went just past the 1/2 way point and stayed there. And no barfing in the driveway when I got home. Yea!

Good news!

May be on the right track, but it's not right. Got home from a cruise last night and had 200 degrees at the thermostat housing. Out came the rad this a.m. and to the rad shop and let the do their thing. Owner stated that it is not a fast cooling rad and that it had been re-cored. He also stated that I was looking in the right area(the rad) for my issue. While it's out, I'm pulling the new pump off and going to syphon the coolant out of the block so I can get a really good look up inside with my bore scope. Figured might as well while I'm there.

Hi Mark,
Water boils at 212 degrees. If you have (for example) a 6# radiator cap 3 X 6 = 18 so 18 + 212 = 230 degrees at which time the water will boil in the radiator. If you just got home and had been driving for a while I would like to know if the temp decreased while at idle before shutting the engine off, and did the car boil over when you shut the engine off. I'm just curious, but I'm not sure there is a problem especially if the car cooled at idle and did not boil over.......this is probably a moot issue since you have the radiator out. Please keep posting on your saga.

With the anti-freeze/coolant, and the pressure, the boiling point will be even higher than water. I didn't let it idle long enough to see if the temp would come down (My bad). Car did not barf in the driveway though, after I shut it off, so it can't be too bad. Rad was dirty inside, so having it cleaned was a good thing to do anyway. Now, I am going mainly by the temp gauge in the dash, and this is the warmest weather that I have driven it in since I just purchased the car in September. I'm still learning the quirks of the car. The gauge in the car may be reading/ responding correctly to what is happening with the temperature, just that it looks hot to me as it is closer to the "H" than it is the 1/2 way dot. Anybody tell me where their temp needle is pointing when driving in 80 - 85 degree weather, around town and on the highway? Also, the temp gauge in the car is not necessarily the most accurate. It's only an indicator that is just a bit better than an idiot light. So to that end I am going to temporarily install a mechanical temp gauge in the upper rad hose and get accurate temperature reading of the coolant. I just may find out that I am banging my head against the rad cap for no reason. And I'm ok with that. I would rather go through this and find everything is ok, than not investigate and cook the engine. Thanks to all who have posted suggestions.

HI, how difficult was it to get the radiator out? I should do it with mine but have been putting it off because I think it will be a bear to get out of there. I'm talking about the weight in actually lifting it out of the car. Do you have any idea what it weighs?