190deg Therm causing temp gauge to read high?

[saxart]

Quick question. I just got the crate engine in my ‘70 up and running. The temp gauge is all but pegged even though a hand held laser therm shows the therm hosing to be in the 190-200deg Range. I got the correct sending unit from Lectro Limited (mounted In Drivers side head) and made sure the gauge cluster was properly grounded. I even put a ground pigtail on the backside of the gauge itself. Could the 190 deg therm be causing this higher reading on the gauge?