I got my engine fired up today and I noticed the temp. was 205* to 210* at idle. I have a 19" flex fan and 2-800 cfm elec. cooling fans with a 3 row rad. Any idea why the temp was this high. I guess it could be an air bubble, but I'm not sure. I had to put a big floor fan in front of it to get it to 190*.

Was this the first time for the engine? If so, that is not uncommon. A lot of parts are lapping themselves together. 205-210 isn't bad.

yes, first time start up today.

I have my temp guage run to the head on my car it always runs around 205*,i've heard if you hook it to the intake it will read lower.

i read some of your specs on the motor and i can tell you that i have a very similar combo now in my street car.

.090 over 396
10.5 to 1 compression
233/239 @ .050 .551 lift
closed chambered 390 heads ported and ported with 2.19/1.88 valves
torker 2 intake 750 holley
2800 stall

and i run a 3 row radiator.......and my temp has never gotten above 185 at idle on a 100 or so degree day and i let it idle for almost an hour.............and runs right at 165 on the highway.

all im using is this.........
new oreilys 3 row radiator 99 bucks
1- 17" fat blade flex fan 29 bucks
stock fan shroud 35 (ebay) with the blades 3/4 of the way into the fan shroud
2 inch fan spacer freebe on the shelf........lol
and im using and industrial type hose on the bottom of the radiator really thick and heavy so it dont get sucked shut.......35 bucks
stock 30 dollar water pump
160 thermostate with two holes drilled into it

there you go this has worked for around 13 years in every car i have built and every bbc 396 i have dropped into them...........

i have tried the electric fans and other flex fans and they just dont seem to work.......this has been a proven combo for me and i dont see why it would work for you.........

hope this helps

Thanks for the info. Today I ran it some more and the temp was 190*. So it looks like that problem is getting better.