After almost a month, Betty is back on the road. Well, sort of.
With my father-in-laws help today, I re-installed the radiator after improvising a temporary fix for my broken compressor pulley. It'll do until the new one eventually shows up from TNJMURRAY.
I filled her up with 50/50 antifreeze and distilled water and no leaks....yet.
I discovered a mistake I made with the generator installation. There are two hot wires, one larger and one small, about #14. The smaller wire was accidentally trapped and pinched under the little metal cover that goes over the terminals. As soon as I turned the engine over (power on, fuel off) a cloud of smoke erupted from the generator. I thought I had fried it for sure.
After a bit of troubleshooting, I found that wire pinched under the cover and severely burned. I cut out the damage and replaced it. It works just fine now. I'm not sure if that smaller wire is/was a fuse-able link or not. I'm researching the TM's tonight for that answer.
After that drama was resolved, I did a pre-ride inspection on the usual stuff and took her for a test drive about 15 miles. She did great with no leaks and no other problems. Before the work I just completed, she would run a very steady 180 degrees. Now with new thermostat, new water pump, belts and hoses, she seems to run about 175. After 15 miles at highway speed with some hills involved, she just touched 180 degrees a couple of times but quickly dropped back to just a shade under 180 by the dash mounted gauge.
I know I will have to partially disconnect the radiator to tilt it forward to swap that compressor pulley. And, I have not yet reinstalled the grill guard. I'll do that after that pulley is swapped. For now, I'm just glad she's mostly back together and running.