[JPBrecheisen]

More advanced timing will make them run good.

With ethanol blended fuels, you can probably run a few extra degrees of advance without hurting anything.

If it is having trouble starting, you might have a tad much timing in it. Maybe back it off a tad to find the sweet spot.

I will typically run timing where the shop manuals say, but most of my stuff is stock, points ignition included.

Some will just advance timing at idle until the engine starts sputtering then back off a smidge and lock it down. Others will creep it in until it pings under heavy acceleration then back or off a tad.

Advanced timing brings some spirit back into a tired engine. Just be careful not to do too much because it can cause problems under full advance (high RPM) conditions.

Maybe back it off a third of what you put in and see if it starts better. When I helped my friend with his 250, that's what we did. I balanced the timing between idle misfiring and starting manners until we found a spot where it ran favorably in all places until he could make repairs.

200° isn't terrible temps for an engine if it stays there.

Sounds at least like you're gaining on the problem.

Don't count that radiator out though as you play with it. It's important to remember that even though the thermostat opens at its set temperature, it's the efficiency of the heat exchanger (radiator) that determines how much heat being generated by combustion than can be disapated into the air. If the radiator is faulty, a cooler thermostat will just make it take longer to end up at the temperature the radiator can effectively disapate. If the radiator was perfect (exchanging heat at same or faster rate than it's being generated) you'd probably run at 165° all the time.

My the plugged radiator i mentioned previously had the symptoms you describe. Mine was a combination of late timing, a dirty block, and restricted radiator.

Good luck

Jonathon