[TR] radiator contamination

[davgil at aol.com]

To the more well informed.
Yesterday was a beautiful weekend in North Georgia and I had the opportunity
for a nice drive with my 1976 TR6.  Great day until I heard that unusual sound
from up front and then smelled the unmistakeable odor of an overheated fan
belt.  As I looked for a place to pull off the road, I watched the
termperature climb to the top of my gauge.  Upon parking at a safe location I
popped the bonnet and watched the coolant continue to boil into the overflow
bottle.  Fortunately replacement of the broken belt (great reason to have a
spare on hand) and a half gallon of water into the cooled down radiator did
the trick.  The problem was that when I was able to remove the radiator cap, I
found several pieces of what appeared to be blue form-a-gasket material at the
filler neck.  My car always runs pretty cool and I have not had any
overheating issues.  I don't believe that it got hot enough to damage the
head.  Other than draining and flushing the coolant system, should I worry
about checking anything else?  I probably ran it another 30 minutes after the
repair and no signs of any problem whatsoever, or any leaking around the head
or water pump.  Your advice is welcomed.
Regards
David Gill
1976 TR6