Maybe its time for another one of my cherished illusions to be destroyed.
I've always felt that, within reason, the cooler an engine runs, the longer it will last. By "within reason" I mean somewhere in the 150 to 180 range after warmup, and in normal operation. You may gain a little, thermodynamically, by having your cylinder walls 30 degrees warmer (to add heat to the air fuel charge) but I doubt that you would notice the difference.
Synthetic oils and 18 psi radiator caps seem to me to be designed to allow a car to have a better chance of surviving boundary conditions, not to improve performance. I'm sure we would all be a little upset if our engines melted down the first time we got into stop and go traffic, and the automobile manufacturers realize that. If I am not mistaken, the later model, hotter running engines are designed that way due to emissions considerations. We don't have no steenking emissions considerations, so why not run cool?
The 350 in my late model C30 has a 13 quart oil capacity. (Seven quart pan with two 2 quart remote filters and a thermostatically controlled oil cooler set to 160 degrees.) If it ever dies I'll let you know.
