It still overheats, not sure what else to do...

Throw away that stock fan and shroud. Get a 3.8 Taurus fan and put it on. It fixed ALL my overheating problems. Sitting at idle with the stock fan and HD Fan clutch, it would literally overheat, bury the gauge at 250 degrees. 3.8 Taurus fan? 180 degrees in 95 degree heat, 100% humidity... at idle... with the a/c on MAX high. I love it!

the fan is the first thing i did, linc. fan, 140 amp alt., dcc controler, cobra water pump, 3 core rad., new hoses, i can sit in bumper to bumper, a/c on, in 100+ temp. and the needle wont budge over 25%. sounds like you have done your homework, you have a good combo, i do think the fan will make a big dif. itll blow twice as much air as the stock fan good luck!

Sorry guys but I have to disagree. I run the stock rad with HD clutch and fan, the T-stat is 180 and an edelbrock water pump. With the above parts strapped to my motor I have not seen anything over 190 in even 90deg high humidity days in traffic. You can't blame the fan for a car that has JUST started to overheat...changing the fan now would just be a bandaid. You need to find out why the car has started to overheat...solve that, then go to an electric and enjoy the benefits.

something i didnt see mentioned, did you try changing the radiator cap? or did that 3-core radiator come with a new one?

The stock fan and clutch should be fine. Maybe you have a defective clutch assembly? If it has a warranty, take it back and try another.

I just posted in someone else's thread thinking it was yours, but it's the same issue. It's a post right below yours, titled "bad gauge or sender" or something like that. Check out my response, it will tell you how to use a meat thermometer to determine if it's a bad gauge or not...

and do you top it off when it drops? Not that it would make it or break it, but what's your coolant/ water mix? Something else is definitely amiss, though...

u do have the correct rotation water pump and properly-routed drivebelt, right?

If you are running lean, that can increase temps. Pull the plugs and see what they look like. White=lean. BTW, my plugs are white when I check them but I have no pinging or overheating. Is it pinging under load? Try flooring it in 5th at 45 mph, that should make it ping if its going to.

If you are leaning out, thats not the engines fault and it doesnt mean you need a new one. You will need a new one if you keep running it lean though, that is if it is actually running lean.

Sounds almost similar to an issue I had, but running so lean at idle it's causing the car to heat up? Sounds whacky to me. It could be a bad ground or defective gauge. MAYBE. I had similar issues, went through 3 new autometer gauges before the problem stopped. It would just keep climbing. But the engine did SEEM hot, coulda been my imagination (it was summer and hot out). Personally, I'm a fan of the electric fan solution, I have an S/N95 fan installed on mine with a DCC, totally awesome. I would check some grounds though and do the meat thermometer test. Just to be sure. SOmething about the notion of throwing out the engine because it might be the problem is a tad extreme in my opinion.

i had a problem with over heating on long rips and beating my car, check the voltage at the fuel pump. for me i just hard wired the fuel pump and away went my heating problem, there might be a problem with the fuel pump relay, i got a code for that and like i said hard wired the pump and i cruise for hours at speed and the needle don't go past 1/4.

might work for you if your running lean, and i blew a motor cause i was running lean, didn't know it was the cause till i started to think about it.

good luck.