I have had the same vintage 292 in my daily driver car for a couple winters now & I have ran both 160 & 180 stats depending on the season. Within maybe 5 mi. or less I can see the temp gage come up to whatever the stat. temp is & then drop off momentarily as it first opens. After a couple of these 'hunting' fluctuations it will level off & stay right at the stat rated temp. Maybe not as cold here but we do get ice a few times on winter mornings & I use my defroster. Doug
