SSnake,
Many of us have the problem of low
oil temperature, big or small block, even with the
oil cooler blanked off to stop airflow.
I just ordered the Canton thermostat from Summit for $145. It comes set up for #12 lines which should work for your setup. Visually it appears to have more flow capacity than the MOCAL unit or the EARLS which are both set up for #10 fittings.
(that said I have not seen ANY measurements on flow rates for any of them).
I decided on the Canton as it is set to open at ~215. The MOCAL and EARLS are set at ~180. The MOCAL can be ordered to open at ~215 but then it is approaching the price of the CANTON.
My engine, stroked 289 runs cool, on the street
oil is 150/160 stuck in traffic and drops as soon as the car has >airflow or >engine speed. Oil very rarely exceeds ~200 even at the track so I opted to go with the 215 setting.
MOCAL says their unit starts to open at 160 so I don't think it would do much for me.
The BEAUMONT unit is beautiful, very simple but at $330 too pricey for me. I still like the thermostat concept as my oil temp drops as soon as I am on a straight away or going down hill, I want the temp to stay up...but I have lots of reserve so getting heat soaked shouldn't be an issue.
I think all the thermostats will still allow about 10% of the oil to flow through them so the temp in the cooler isn't totally cold.
One downside to the CANTON is its size...6 inches high and 3.25 square...the MOCAL unit, and the EARLS are more compact.
Dean, aka ""RED-BARCHETTA" has a CANTON unit on his 351/390 stroker, maybe he or some of the other guys will comment.