I posted awhile back about some cooling issues and thought it was because the electric fan wasn't pulling enough air, so I purchased another one. My current setup is 73 duster, mild (9.5:1) 360 with alum heads and intake, a NEW radiator that was designed for a 1997 Jeep with a 5.2 or 5.9, but fit perfectly between the front frame rails, a 16" 2400 cfm electric fan (the old one was only rated for 1400 cfm), moroso electric water pump. I think the water pump is just a Non A/c application water pump. I have a gutted thermostat housing installed. I pull into the water box at 130, after doing the burn out and go to stage the car is 155-160, and is 180-185 at the finish line, but by the time I come back the return road and get to the pits it will be at 190-195. I can see the temp increasing from the burnout to the finish line, but it should cool back down some on the return road. I'm considering purchasing a Griffin Radiator, but I'm not 100% sure the radiator is the issue. Anyone have any ideas of what may be causing the issues?

I have seen more than one guy wire the electric water pump drive backwards and have cooling issues.It should spin clockwise.Just a thought.

with shogun run backwards with alum heads

may or may not help ya, but trans coolers put out a lot of heat. i moved the trans cooler away from the radiator...installed a cooler with elec. fan.
it made a big difference. high temp is 20 deg. cooler than the high read with the old setup.

I believe an A/C application water pump has more fins (more flow) than a non A/C pump.
I'd run a high flow water pump w/ the anti-cavitation plate like a Milodon or Flow-Kooler pump. One of these pumps dropped the water temp on my car about 10 degrees compared to a stock pump.
The Milodon HV pump w/ the Moroso electric drive is a cheap alternative to a good Meziere electric pump.

Have you tried adding some water wetter to your coolant? Brought my engine temps down 10-15 degrees.

I checked and the water pump is spining clockwise, I did add 1 thing of water wetter and it helped by approx 10 degrees. I thought about the gauge also, but this past weekend it went up to 210 at one time before I shut it off and it pushed a little water into the overflow, so gauge has to be close. I do have the overdrive pulley on the electric motor, but it does seem like the motor is not spinning as fast as it does on my other car, so maybe I'll swap them out to see if that helps. If that is a case, maybe I just need a new electric motor. I've heard that there's a motor you can buy that's alot cheaper than the moroso motors, that is designed for something else but works fine for a water pump does anyone know of any?

I do not really see any issue with what you currently have. If the system that you have can cool the temp quickly between rounds I think you are fine. My car is always around 200 after a run but it only takes 10 minutes to be cooled to 140. Most factory fans in cars today do not kick on until 210.

At the rate that its heating up it acts like its a
flow issue... or a small radiator, are you running
a motor plate in the pump area... are you sure its got
all the air out of the system