Running without a thermostat ok?

mguner said
Time in the radiator has some effect in allowing the water to dissipate heat though not as much apparently as pressure and restriction keeping the heads full of coolant and not steam pockets.

Exactly, yes.

theslo1 said
Can someone explain why some people say an engine without a thermostat will overheat? I don't entirely believe that because an engine with a thermostat stuck open runs cold from my experience. I read the information in the link above, interesting read.

Not all will overheat with no thermostat, but some can. There's many variables, but an engine which runs very hot or even overheats WITH a thermostat might run even hotter without one. It's simply because the cooling system is rather marginal in most of these cases and removing the thermostat is 'the final straw' and local pressure in the block drops just enough more to allow steam and it snowballs from there.

An engine that already runs cool enough won't overheat if the thermostat is removed, it'll probably run stone cold all the time or barely get warm.