Is anyone using either of these water pumps? I have the 1st gen. Casco pump/w riveted impeller. I'm considering replacing it with either Casco's 2nd gen. pump/w 1-piece cast impeller or Flowkooler's pump. I don't like the thought of the riveted impeller coming apart on Casco's 1st gen. pump. I suppose that's why Casco upgraded to a 1-piece impeller. 

I thought the original T-Bird factory thermostat was a 160 or 165 (?).  Likely the longevity advantages of hotter min. running temp wasn’t thoroughly appreciated yet, or they may have thought the wider temp. window would provide a cushion from overheating (?), since the car’s design tended toward that.  Probably why it came with a higher cap pressure.

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

I think they left the assembly line with a 160 thermostat. On other vehicles, 160 would be on the cold side. If overheating is not an issue, I would go with 180.