Thermostat added, new temperature reading

[Claudia]

If it helps . . . I have have attached a couple of pictures that I captured of my warm up.
I wanted to capture both my oil pressure and block temperatures together.
440 w / 180 degree thermostat and a Champion 22" radiator.
Temperatures were taken with a IR gun directly on the engine block.

First - 70 psi @ 150 degrees
Second - 60 psi @ 170 degrees
Third - 50 psi @ 180 degrees
Fourth - 40 psi @ 190 degrees
Fifth - 34 psi @ 200 degrees

[Husk Challenger]

Wow, perfect @Claudia
That's very helpful!

Thanks a lot!

[Chryco Psycho]

MIne has alway run where the second picture is but I use a 180* T stat

[Jay Bee]

Looks to be overheating in the last picture, the needle just went past the normal range.    

[Claudia]

I made a correction to the above post . . . those pictures were taken with a 180 thermostat . . . not a 185.

I agree that it was getting hot.  I ended up removing the 180 thermostat and tested it which proved that it was actually not starting to open until reaching 195 degrees which is why I now have a 160 thermostat installed which when tested actually starts to open at 185 degrees.

[RUNCHARGER]

The third photo is where 3 of my E'bodies ran with 195 thermostats in them. All the gauges were old, originals. I used 180's a few times and the gauges seemed to run in the middle or slightly below. Of course different gauges will be calibrated differently, these days I would heat gun it like you are doing and correlate that to where the gauge is so no guessing.
If you watch the gauge carefully on warmup you  will see when the thermostat opens, the gauge will stop rising, although that might not be as noticeable with a hole drilled in the thermostat (which I agree is a good idea).

[bc3j]

Mine runs like the first picture with a 180* Tstat. Heat temp gun at the thermostat housing are consistently between 180-181*.  Lower hose is around 160*. Valve covers are between 195 - 200*. Stock exhaust manifolds around 475*. Have a stock 26" radiator, fan clutch w/5 bladed fan with shroud using Prestone green 50/50 mix.

I had the temp gauge acting erratically randomly traveling to the top of the scale and dropping just as fast. Changed the sensor unit, a small piece of the wire and the connector which fixed it.

[dodj]

I have a 195* t-stat in mine and it runs like the second pic. So I'm thinking anywhere from 1/4 to 3/4 sweep is a good/normal temp.
I believe the factory calls for a 195* t-stat in 440's?