[brucepick]

Thanks.

I tend to find the more complicated ways to do things. I like to think that it's because I do them thoroughly. Those who measure only by completion time disagree.

Not counting planning and parts acquisition -
If I recall, I started just before noon and it was dark when I was done. That was the first time I did it. The next day I drained it again so I could put the copper elbows in the output hose.

I wouldn't be surprised if a 350-400 watt block heater gave you those results. It heats the coolant directly. Mine heats the coolant that goes through a hose, and what's worse, the path leads the coolant through the radiator before entering the heater. So even with a grill block and the fan not running, some heat is lost through the hoses and at the radiator.

Lastly though, I'm shooting for even higher block temperatures than 80-85ºF. I'd love to see the block at 150ºF or more before startup. But I can see I'm not going to achieve that with this heater; the highest temperatures I've seen from it were a bit over 100ºF.

I'm planning some insulation around the valve cover (a hat for the head, so to speak) and maybe hood insulation, to cut the losses. And maybe for next year, the 1000 watt version of the heater.