PROBLEMS: Overheating + Squeaking fanbelt + dashboard!

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Hello!

I have a few problems with my sporty (1990)

1. It has a squeaky fan belt, which only really squeaks when its raining/damp, can anyone explain how i go about tightening it?

2. It overheats... the water it basically boiling after a longish journey and the tube from the radiator seems to be just blowing air into the water, eventually it makes the top come off the water holder and tonnes of steam is produced... Could it be the thermostat? Can anyone advise how to replace it or where to get a thermostat for it from?

My dash board is also not working correctly - 3 of the guages don't work, revcounter, fuelguage and temperature... it's not a fuse i've checked them, and i opened it up and looked behind it today and there was no obvious problem behind the dash electrically

Any ideas? Thank you so much if you can help!

Bad and good news.

First the bad news ...
If the top is being forced from the coolant reservoir its because the coolant is being pressurised. This is a common sign of the blown head gasket. The gasket is allowing cylinder compression to force vapour through a break in the head gasket into the coolant. The pressurised coolant is forced to escape into the reservoir. Task a sniff into the reservoir - you can probably smell exhaust fumes, or there will be visible oil on the surface of the coolant.
The good news .....
Tightening a belt is easy. There are two belts .. steering pump/fan belt and alternator. You will see a vertical bolt acting upon a cam. Just tighten the vertical bolt. If the lower alternator belt is loose, gain access by removing the fan belt. Not difficult .. just look for the bolts!
The fuses ... I assume you checked main fuses on the battery and secondary fuses below the driving wheel.

Eek

Oh dear, i guess it is definitely a blown head gasket problem then, and yeah i can smell fumes. Shit. How can i go about fixing this problem? Is there any cheap way?! Please!!! SadSad

Also, should i not drive it at all or is it safe on short journeys?

Get it fixed.

No cheap method.The cylinder head must be removed. Get it skimmed before its put back on. If its not skimmed it will blow again .. skimming makes certain the mating surface of the head is flat.
No dont drive it unless your desperate. If any cylinder lacks coolant you can blow a hole though the cylinder head. A gasket is cheaper than a new cylinder head!

Skimming...

Hello again! Found someone who can skim it for a decent price, but i was wondering, do i get it skimmed before i replace the gasket, or afterwards, because i am going to be replacing the gasket myself i will need to drive it to a garage to get skimmed and then do the gasket, or the other way round!

Skim.

Skimming the head means the mating surface of the cylinder head is machined flat. A gasket goes between the cylinder head and block and torqued to the required pressure.
You can only skim the head when the cylinder head is removed. So you wont be driving the car! I hope you have sufficient mechanical skills/knowledge and details of setting the valves/timing when refitting the cylinder head etc.
Be careful and get a reputable company to skim the cylinder head. A rubbish skim job must be avoided.