Can I permanently disconnect the water temp. switch?

well why would you want to disconnect it?

Sure you can.... no way will it affect the perfomance of a 2+2. HeHeHe.

You got to ask your self "why did the manufacture build it this way?" when doing anything like this. The switch is for the injector cooling fan... So if you disconnect it, Your injectors will see a greater heat cycle than they already do. Think of what happens to gas as it boils away inside your injector rail and injectors... If you don't get the point from this then you need to do some more research before you decide what to do next...
Ray

Spudea, the reason is on this post.

http://www.zcar.com/forums/read.php?f=1&i=510163&t=510163

Thanks

76 didn't have the Injector Cooling Fan (79 - 83 had them) but I'm sure it would have helped to cool the injector rail on earlier models too.

Actually the temperature switch is used to advance/retard the timing in early dual pick up distributor models - temperature based....... Better emissions.