A clean radiator the proper size for the engine will keep an engine at or near the opening point of the thermostat.
Jerry
Every 216 and 235 I have ever run has had a 180 thermostat and the temperature gauge has always been dead on at between the 8 and the 0 of the 180 mark. I always figured that the designers wanted the engine to reach 180 as soon as possible and that the entire cooling system was designed to maintain a temperature of 180, and that the fact that the thermostat opens at 180 and closes when it is below 180 was a coincidence with the fact that the engineered preferred temperature is also 180.
For clarification, are you suggesting that, once a 160 thermostat opens at 160, the coolant won't go above 160?
