Howdy to you all. 
I'm in a dilemma here. I'm running a Robertshaw (genuine stuff, not made in China) 160 degree thermostat on my 292, that is bored 0.060 over, has a Isky E-4 and a Autolite four barrel. 
People say I should replace it with a 180 degree thermostat, because 160 is "too cold".
Well, the car runs great, and my climate here is humid and hot, like let's say Florida (being there, and it was VERY familiar, hahaha) 
My engine almost never goes beyond 170 while driving on normal speed traffic, with a occasional 200 when stuck in traffic. 
What do you guys think?

Túlio Lazzaroni "FORD", Florianópolis SC Brasil.

'74 Ford Galaxie 500 292 V8

'82 Ford Galaxie Landau 302 V8

'98 Chevrolet S10 4.3 V6

'01 Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec

It looks like your water pump pulley is a smaller than stock pulley, so coolant flow through the radiator is probably ok.  It probably is airflow.



Lawrenceville, GA

Another thing that helps cooling is to restrict the flow in the bypass which is the small short section of heater hose between the Tstat housing and the water pump.  This is always bypassing the radiator returning hot water to the pump intake.  All you need is a small scrap of sheet metal drilled for the bolts to the water pump and then a hole for reduced flow into the pump I think I have used 1/4" hole in the flow area.  This will slow heat up on a cool day but improve water flow through the radiator and thus bring down the water temp returning to the engine. 
BTW I agree with the idea of a 190F thermostat if it can be found.

Doug T

The Highlands, Louisville, Ky.