This is long, but it better describes the problem.

My temperature light started coming on two weeks ago while driving home late one night. The light didn't come on and stay on, it would flicker on and off. Most of the trip after it came on initially, it would flicker and go off for a while. Well, I have been driving it to work for the past two weeks and the light flickers as I am driving about a block from my house. I let the engine warm up, but there is no way it is hot that soon. Once I get going the light only usually comes on (or shall I say flickers on and off) under acceleration, and stays off once I reach the speed limit. In the last two weeks I noticed a leak on one of the hard lines coming from the radiator. I tightened it and the leak is gone.

Today on the way home from work I was stopped in heavy traffic and the temp. light came on and stayed while I sat at a stop light for about 4 minutes. I yelled at it while sitting there, but that didn't help. It went to flicker mode after I got going again near the speen limit. Once I got home I looked under the hood and some steam was coming out of the small opening on the stock air intake. (that leads to the air filter) Not a whole lot, but it was coming out. The intake does have a vent hose from the passenger side valve cover, could it have been oil? My dad asked if it was smoke... and I dont know what it was...

I know the radiator might be giving up, but that would not explain the light going on only a block from my house....

The car is a 68 Malibu with a 70 307, RV-2 cam, and Rochester Q-jet with the numbers

7041208 DN
2160

on it.

Other possibilities are;
1. That I experimented with regular gas (hey, gas is expensive here in Oregon) althought I have been using 89 octane stuff for a few tanks now.

2. Idle went screwy on my carb (engine would die, revs toooo low), now it is too high and idle mixture is screwed up. (all thanks to me) It will have to stay that way until I get a friend to help me set it (so he can put his foot on the brake with it in drive) and I also want a tachometer.

Was that a lot to read or what. Thanks to anyone that finished my loooong question. I just thought I needed to be thorough.

THANKS AGAIN!!!

One more thing, the temp. light has never come on while cranking the engine over to start, and after the light first came on that one night, it comes on every once in a while while starting.