Re: cooling system problems...i need some help
i had a 70 impala with a 350 (actually two) for quite some time and did a lot of work to them. you need a shroud and the stock fan (the big one) and a clutch. you're right in that it should run at whatever temp thermostat you put in there, i tried 160, 180, 195 and the engine always ran at those temps, even with a questionable rad that eventually dumped out the bottom one day and it still didnt overheat.
another thing you may need to look at is the heater core. for whatever reason if the heater core is not right it can mess up the cooling and i dont know why. blovking the passages to the core (for racing purpose) seems to be fine but for some reason the heater core needs to be in good shape even in the summer.