lost my fan/water pump belt today .. dumb question of the day

[mabbonizio]

Driving home tonight my fan belt let go. I guess I should have pulled over as soon as the battery and two brake lights came on but didn't as I wasn't in an opportune spot and honestly thought it was an electrical gremlin.

I glanced at the temp gauge and noticed it climbing steadily and pulled over right when it was at around 115°C and shut the car off. Temp rose to right under 120 (never went into the red mark) and I changed the belt on the side of the road.

What was odd was that in the time it took me to change the belt in the dark (had a spare in the trunk) the motor had already cooled down to 60°C in about 35 mins.

Is it possible I damaged the engine getting it that hot? Part of me says the system is designed to operate within the range of the gauge. The neurotic part of me says, 30 year old cooling system and head gasket may not operate well at almost 120° C...

There was no steam and I opened the rad and the coolant level was right where it should be.