160 Thermostat on order!

[j.fro]

I bought the t-stat from jmatta. I wanted to get a cheap t-stat that I could do a little work with. When I used to drag race Chevies, one of the tricks we had for cooling was to drill a couple of small holes in the plate that opens and closes. This does two things. First, it gets a little coolant flowing before the t-stat opens. Second, when the t-stat is open, it provides a bit more flow.
So, I've done this with the used t-stat. Here's what I'm seeing:
Once the car gets up to temperature (which does take longer now), the average running temp shows lower than before. Before, my gauge read anywhere from straight up vertical to the far right side of the "0" in the "180". Now, on the highway, the temp stays on the hash mark under the 180. In town, the needle will move over to split the "8" and the "0", but I have yet to see it go as far as it did before. Once I get moving, the needle will move back to the left of vertical. This may be due in some part to a modification I made to the center radiator. I've put GT3 RS type openings in front of the hood, moved the radiator forward about 1", and routed all of the air through the center radiator to exit through the RS ducts, over the car.
My biggest reason for experimenting with the t-stat was the cost of the LN model. I trust their data on the value of a cooler running engine, but when 944, Audi, Benz, etc low temp t-stats are $30-40, the cost of the LN model is a bit high.