On a side note, I would keep the stat (180 at least). it gets the eng out of that "high wear zone" when cold by causing a fast warmup & I dont see the stat as being a restriction especially a high flow one (or even a "regular" one) that ain't stuck & it sets the minimum temp (& 180 ish ain't overheating). On topic I have thought about restricting the massive SB 3/4 NPT bypass but I keep thinking that Ma musta designed it in there for a reason. EDIT & I dont think too fast of water flow makes it run "hotter" cuz if one block of water exits the rad faster (& is cooled less) then the next block of water enters quicker & starts getting cooled "sooner" so it reaches an equilibrium & it (faster ratio) will either cool the same or better (& I think it would be better) & reports of it running hotter, that some other "change" was made at the same time in addition to the faster ratio that is skewing things.
(My 2 cents)