best temp thermostat/tuning tips... guru's all advice welcomed.....

Leave the fuel pressure alone - 38-40 psi measured with vacuum hose off and plugged, engine warm and idling. Timing - try 14-16 degrees btdc with spout out; the cam would probably like more - hard to say if your iron heads will let you run that much without detonating -play with it and see.

I run a 180F t'stat - seems to work fine for most folks.

I run the same T/T combo....as Mike says....14 deg and 39 on the FP....Mines been dyno couple times over...those are the best numbers for mine...i run the Steeda 19 tho...
I also run the stock 192 stat....never runs over 204 in dead Summer...

mines been all the way to 18 with no pinging whatsoever....but 14 was the sweet spot...I run 19lb injectors with the stock EEC...

Let it come up to temp and you'll be surprised...i had only small issues with the cam after a day or so....i set the idle to 800 and then re-set TPS/idle from scratch...alls fine...

Everything I've read indicates a 180 is the best compromise between lowering temps to help avoid detonation and keeping the oil temps up hi enuf to avoid accelerated lower cylinder wall wear. Higher temps by themselves give more power out of the same amount of fuel, but the trade off is detonation which kills the whole deal.

A high perf thermostat like you can get at Jegs or Summit will open more evenly at the spec'd temp rather than varying much and help maintain more of a constant temp than a stock parts store one.

ya liek said above, id got with the 180. can't go wrong there. most poeple i talk to with high performance mods, or even reg mods go with 180.. i went with 160, and it was just to cold. car wasn't running right, so i switched to 180 and it ran, actually much better with the 20 degree difference.