ill toss out my two cents worth. i may have missed something, so i apologize (the thread is long).
you have a mechanical fan, right? someone was talkin about an electric fan, which changes the whole dynamic.
if the car overheats or runs really hot on the highway, that suggest the radiator is at fault. overheating in town suggests an ancillary cooling component.
your gauge: the stocker is famous for sucking. get yourself a good aftermarket gauge, even if it is a parts store gauge (Autometer being the best, IMHO). and using a mechanical temp gauge is best. get yourself a good gauge before proceeding - otherwise you are shooting in the dark. if you want to retain the stocker and have questions, lemme know. i have info from a write up i did on another site (i dont want to post links to other sites in here -seems rude).
the stock gauge sucks and does not read well. they are "tuned" to not fluctuate much, as it is 'distracting' to drivers. that is why our oil pressure and temp gauges dont move much. the voltage regulator behind the cluster helps do this, while exacerbating an already useless gauge.
make sure your fan has no cracks on the blades or hub. they are famous for cracking.
fan clutch: stangs come with thermo-clutches. the fan should turn easy with a cold motor, and become harder to turn with a hot motor (as the clutch locks up). DONT TEST IT BY JAMMING YOU HAND INTO A MOVING FAN!. IT HAS BEEN DONE.
with the car off, give it a spin. note how much it freewheels. warm the car up. turn it off. spin again. it should spin much less than before. if not, a new clutch is in order.
also, if you take the clutch off and see silicone leaking on the thermospring on the back, get a new one. many parts stores offer a heavy duty unit with a lifetime warranty. each year, they lose a few hundred RPM (all clutches do).
i agree about 3 cores. they are the only way to go. you might need to massage the lower support, but it is basically a plug and play.
what are you running coolant wise? a 50% 50% mix of DISTILLED water and coolant (some run a little deviation) is something to shoot for. water is what cools the motor - coolant provides lubricity, raises the boiling point and prevents rust. i tend to run 40/60 coolant/water, respectively. i live a 1/4 mile from the sun.
the pressure from the rad cap raises the functional boiling point....so that is important. although, on a properly functioning system, one can run with no pressure and be ok. but stangs are kinda old school - some new cars run 3 times the pressure we do.
and when you get it up to snuff, you can seal the fan shroud to radiator....weatherstrip works real well. you want as much air as possible running across the coil - sealing those up does help.
something not touched upon so far, i dont think: your thermostat. your old one could simply be stuck closed. i would highly recommend a Mr Gasket 180* unit. it is fully balanced, opens fully sooner, and flows a little more than parts store units. 10 bucks at a speed shop. also has a bleed hole, which is nice.
i think that is about it. like i said before, i covered a lot of what was already said, but i was just thinking off the top of my head; there are too many good posts to read through to see if something was mentioned.
good luck to you.
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