I know, it regulates what temperature your engine does run at, and when you have high compression you need your engine to run cooler to reduce detonation and make more power...
A '69 Polara with a factory-original 10:1 383 4-bbl I worked on last summer had an old sticker on the radiator support that clearly said "USE ONLY 180* THERMOSTAT" it ran hot when I first got it running and changing out the t-stat for a 180* cured it.
