ignition timing set up ? initial,total,vac advance I tried electric fans & had no success, but not all cars are the same.

Is the Milodon pump the high volume version? If so is it matched with their high volume T stat which is recommended? Supposedly, the HV pump can push a regular stat closed. I have always run a HV stat with my old MP HV pump... and has worked fine.

Also a fairly common ~7" crank pulley will get you more water pump speed vs the current setup. May be worth trying the bigger crank pulley with the WP pulley you already have.

Another question about the fan/shroud. Could the fans and integral shroud be restricting air flow at speed? Hi po electric fans as used on the Viper, for example, have flaps on the shroud to allow air to flow through at speed and bypass the shroud. The older style shrouds for mechanical fans are big and open and don't seem to need the flaps.

It is the high volume WP & I didn't know about the thermostat......thanks. That's one part of the issue that may help cure this thing.
As to the fan/shroud issue......... The set-up was bought from Griffin as a complete unit, rad/shroud/fans, all together so I assume they know what they're doing. Part of the things the guys at Ron Davis noticed was that the Griffin set-up had gaps along all 4 edges between the shroud & the radiator. Their don't. They also felt the Spal fans weren't quite sufficient enough to cool something this big with this much hp.
Right now I've got the cooling system apart & am looking for the pulleys while Ron Davis is working on a radiator they feel will cool this thing. "Bouchillon has a 6 5/8 pulley which is the closest I've found so far, but it's almost $200. Seems a little high to me. And I've yet to find a water pump pulley anywhere near 5ins.
I need to get this sorted out fairly quick as the cruising "season" around here is going to be starting fairly soon and it'd be nice to use this thing more than 20 mins at a time........

what offset do you need? pulley flat on bench/ruler across the top/distance to bench

What balancer are you using , a Thin B/RB pulley or the Thick Hemi pulley?

There isn't much of an assortment of pulleys for Mopars as there would be for Ford or Chevy in the aftermarket.

The balancer is an ATI unit. Ignition is locked out (part of the problem) and set at, IIRC, close to/at 40 degrees.
Now I realize all this comes into play in regards to my temp. issue, but when it'll barely idle before getting hot, I'm thinking my cooling system needs tweaking.
I'm running less than 1.20:1 now with the current pulleys, so I understand why Ron Davis is trying to get me to go up to 1.40:1. The thing is, I can't even seem to find the pulleys necessary to at least try that. I can de-tune the car a bit but then starting it becomes a PITA. My theory (?) is, if I can get the temp down now with the "good" tune in it, then toning it down would only help ensure it'd run cooler.

40 degrees with a Hemi , that's a lot of timing for a hemi from what I have read ?

ATI balancer , I'm going to guess you didn't get it with a 3 bolt GM pattern?

I wonder if you have something else going on that is causing it to run hot?

Yeah, it's a bit much but I'm running quite a bit of compression (again, not helping) but the motor has so little time on it & it's always been like this, I'm thinking I just fell short in planning my cooling system. A buddy of mine who is MUCH more mechanically inclined (actually he's an ASE mechanic & teacher) says it's okay & as I said, it pulls real well when I do drive it.
All this has got me thinking that maybe I should back off the timing, TRIPLE check everything and see what comes up. It wouldn't be the first time anyone's overlooked something and chased the wrong "problem"

In general, advanced timing should not cause cooling issues (though it may cause others). Lean and retarded timing can tend be hot. Same with high compression (if it is not detonating). Should not cause a cooling problem. All of the above to a certain point.

For the pulleys, if you have the thin damper you could probably try a common B/RB 2 or even 4 groove crank pulley as a test. If you have the hemi spec thick damper then it is harder.

With a HV pump that is overdriven at least a little I don't think the pulley ratio or water pump performance in general is the problem unless the pump itself is defective.

Well I found pulleys that are close---6 7/8 and 5 1/4. I'll make sure there's nothing wrong with the engine then add these & see what happens with my existing radiator. Thanks to all for the advice & comments. A different perspective is never a bad thing!

I hope it works out for you..

The crank pulley on my 67 was rusted in half ( double pulley) and the above dimension 2 3/16 was different on mine. If I recall it was 2 1/16... Maybe a 67 thing but I could not find one anywhere...

Randy 1wyldRT had one and helped me out...

Still miss him.....

I bought a Bouchilon crank pulley for a 440, paperwork with it said not to spin over 5000 rpm!

Hemicop,
You might want to look into the Mark VIII fan. Lots of info online about installing them and how good they are. They move about 5000 cfm. Could put a few of them together and make a helicopter out of them like a rocket redneck

Thanks! Another possible solution. Who makes them?

They are off the 1993-1998 Lincoln Mark VIII. There is a ton of info online and kits for the electrical side to make the hook up easier.
Here are a couple of links to check out.

http://www.thehollisterroadcompany.com/MarkVIII.html

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/ccrp-1111-electric-radiator-fans/

Thanks!