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It wasn't the water pump. It wasn't the tensioner pulley. So... only thing left was the idler. Replaced it and I was golden... until...( see below ).
I've now driven probably 150 to 250 miles under all sorts of roadway conditions in very mild weather. Today was the big voyage across the proverbial sea as I drove full A/C, windows up in traffic to the big show over at TMS in Ft. Worth put on by Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. Made it there with out any issue ( got some tappet noise and mayb a slight exhaust leak still and definitely and oil 'seepage' thing going on ). Along the way, I watched the dash gauge show less than 13 volts and over 200 temp when both the A/C fan and the radiator fans were on. This was while idling in stop and stop traffic.
This is when the A/C performance starts to wane and the heat soak begins to take its toll.
I've run the system to this point in test and observed 13.6 volts at the alternator and 13.3 volts at the battery all while the dash gauge was indicating less than 13 volts. Sp I was confident the system was still above 13 even though my gauge was not!
Without issue we made it through the registration process and ventured out onto the grounds at TMS, cruised around the area once, parked and sat down for a nice cold beverage. Noticed a bunch of square bodies! Noticed a bunch of 67-72! Goin' back tomorrow!
On the way home I got hit from behind.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...90#post8353490
It is not so bad I can't drive it, but it looks like crap! Going back to the show tomorrow anyway!
EDIT:
After I left the scene of the fender-bender ( bumper-bender, tailgate muncher ), the noise returned briefly. It was the same squeaky noise as before but only for a very short while, then it was gone again. So... not the idler either eh...
-klb