Excessive heat in engine bay

[71 C20 CS]

I have recently completed the front end rebuild on my truck, including the engine and transmission. it seems really hot in the engine bay, but the temp gauge shows normal temps with the engine, even though I did get the crossover burn on the intake manifold.

The heat cooked my starter and I replaced it and it started to cook the new one, I put a heat shield on it and it fixed that problem, but now I'm getting vapor lock. The entire cooling system is new and the air was bled out, I don't understand why it's so hot, I've read rebuilt engines can be hot until they're broke in, could this be the source of the heat?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated,

[Jason Banks]

Have you checked your timing? That can make you run hot....

I can't think of another good reason for enough heat to cook the starter...

edit to add: Timing advanced too much can cause it to run hot. But, it will also usually cause detonation...

[71 C20 CS]

I did check the timing, even took it in and had a pro check it.

[Zonaman]

Similar to a message I just posted. My research suggests that low boiling point ethanol can cause fuel to cook in carb bowl and fuel lines under hood, facilitating vapor lock. I'm going to start by putting an insulator between the carb & the manifold. If that doesn't solve it I'll add a return line at fuel filter (using a 3 port fuel filter) and then I'll insulate fuel lines in engine compartment. Seems to be a common issue in hotter locals.