Overheating?????

Hi. First post on here. I have a 1983 gt convertable. The engine is stock with a few minor changes. carb,h-pipe, factory headers and the usual stuff. Car seems to me to be overheating. So far i have changed the rad(3-core), water pump, thermostat
Mr Gasket hi performance 180 degree, new radator cap and checked clutch fan. I live in new mexico where it gets pretty hot around here and in summer when i run the a/c temp climbs to about 220 to 225. With out a/c temp hovers around 190 to 200
degrees. Is that the normal operating temp for this car? Do the fox engined run this hot? or am i overlooking somthing? Any help would be appreciated thank you  

Sounds normal to me.  The "smogger motor's" run hotter. and the fact it elevates with a/c on means your almost at the limits of the thermal efficiency for the cooling system. You could try a flex fan or electric setup, but I think your as good as it's going to get with the present setup. jlg  

Try a 160 degree thermostat in the summer to get coolant flowing sooner. One reason for a thermostat is to allow the engine to warm up faster in winter so your heater/defroster works. Your motor heats up fast enough in summer from what you say. The other reason is to restrict flow so the coolant resides in the radiator long enough to transfer heat. A lower rated thermostat will still restrict flow but will open sooner so you start cooling 20 degrees sooner than with the one you have in there now. Could work or at least buy you extra time before it gets to max temp again. Every little bit helps.
One guy I know removes his thermostat altogether in summer and runs only a 25/75 coolant to water ratio instead of the usual 50/50% mix since water cools better than anti-freeze. Lets face it, in summer no one is worried about freezing anyway.
If that doesn't work then think about a bigger radiator core if it will fit or an aluminum unit with more heat transfer capability. If you go with aluminum use a minimum 2800 cfm and preferably a 3000 cfm S-blade electric puller fan with a relay and a thermostat. Any fan rated less than that won't do the job in the high desert. I tried it... either go all out or save your money.  

Thanks for ideas. I think i will try a electric fan. And a lower thermostat. Is there any certan brand i should buy or are they pretty much all the same? Should i still run factory fan shroud or leave it off? Thanks for your help.  

SPAL makes a pretty good 3000 cfm unit. Look in Summit Racing or Jegs catalogs for a good puller fan. Most brands are good as long as they are rated at the right cfm and S-blade design. The S-blades are much quieter than straight blades. Some have more current draw than others so you might want to consider that in making youe choice too. The lower the better and don't forget to use a relay switch to avoid an overload condition.
Some of these fans have a built in shroud included. You probaly won't need the factory shroud then. Summit, etc. sometimes offer special electric fan housings that cover the entire radiator surface and put the elctric fan on the back of it with the fan assembly being about an inch away from the back of the enclosed radiator core. These work super well since all air has to come through the radiator and out the rear of the fan.  

Hi,

Can you post what you did or if you got the problem fixed. I am here in Tucson AZ and actually both of mustangs 86 LX Conv and 85 GT Conv do the same thing. They both have a 180 degree thermostat. The temp seems to hang right around the M in the word normal on the gage. They never seem to climb above that. Both cars are stock.

Thanks