I've been chasing an issue with the '59 292 in my model A running hotter than I would like for a little while now.  I swapped in a 180* thermostat and it gets up to about 210 in the thermostat housing and (if I believe the electric Stewart Warner gauge) 230 in the head.  

Is it possible that the water pump impellers are no good anymore and that's the cause of all this?

I'm also not sure if it's real.  People on here say that the Thermostat housing should be hotter than the rear of the driver's side head, but according to my gauges, that isn't the case.  I have a new temp sending unit on the way so I'll be able to verify that, soon.  There's also teflon tape on the threads of the sender- could that keep it from reading correctly?

I'm running just a stock replacement thermostat and I'm shocked at how small the opening is when it opens.  I just ordered that NAPA #6 that Paul has recommended that is supposed to be a larger hole.  I'm tempted to remove the thermostat again, make one of those "water restrictors" by knocking the guts out of one of the ones I have here.  

Today I played around with the timing because they say that if it's too far advanced you could run hot.  I idled the engine and retarded it back until it changed the idle for the worse and ran around town a bit with no effect on the temp gauges, so I'll rule that out.  

Now, when there was no thermostat, it would stick around 165 all day long.  

Any thoughts?  Thanks in advance.  

Pressurize the cooling system with the device/tool that replaces the radiator cap and is connected to a hand pump with a pressure gauge. Pump up to desired pressure (16 lbs) and wait to see if pressure drops. If it does you have a cracked block/head or a blown head gasket that is introducing combustion gasses into st system causing the engine to overheat...you won't see water in the oil or coolant leaks.

"FREE SAMPLE"