overheating?

You might want to change your thermostat to 160. I have 160 in my 302 and it doesn't get hot even in the California desert.

215 is not too bad - i wouldnt want it to get much higher though

Well there are a couple things you can check. 1st does your electrice fan have a shroud? If not thats the problem. 2nd make sure its spinning fast enough. I have had them slowly go out before and it causes mine to slowly heat up. When its 110 mine runs about 200, and 220 in the 91 parking lot. but then again I have a 3 core copper radiator. 3rd make sure your water pump is pumping enough water. Also, make sure yoru running 50/50 antifreeze water. Having to much water will cause the temp to rise a bit. I know water cools good, but in cailifornia traffic sucks and we constantly run in traffic.

YUP. I have a 16in flex puller connected to the water pump. With the chessy factory shroud. (Still haven;t finished the stainless I fabbed) In the front I put a 14in tornardo electric from deraly (i think thats the spelling). The only difference is I removed the fan and reversed the blades. This essentially makes it a pusher. I did this after learning some fluid dynamics in engineering school. The front pusher fan turns clockwise while the puller turns counter clockwise. In effect creating a negative preasure just before the puller. This almost doubles both fans' effective CFM. The stainless shroud I buildwraps around the edges of the radiator sealing it to the backside. Making all the air the fan sucks come through the radiator instead of the holes. On a test run it dropped my running temp about 8 degrees. so I estimate that will bring my 91 parking lot runs about 212. A much nicer number. Plus it looks cool. I gotta smooth out some welds and start polishing it. Just double check the rotation on your fan. I am trying to remember the setup on mine without looking. The key is the ,looking at the motor, to have the fans turn oppsite ways, but still forcing air through the radiator.

how are fans dropping ur temps when ur driving? fans are useless when ur doing 70 in the highway.

We'll this question has been raised many times with the 65-66 cars. The 17 inch radiator is pretty small for a HP small block. Follow the previous suggestions and see where it leads you.

Some people on the east coast don't seem to have as big of a problem, but on this side of the continent it can be a bigger problem. Especially with a strong motor. If you keep the small radiator, you need to stay out of the throttle when it's hot out. It's tough to cool it back down.

Cutting out the core and going to the 20" 67-68 will help even more. An extreme route can be welding in the 67-68 core support and putting in the 24" radiator with saddle brackets.