Before you get mad at me for this post, notice I 'agree' with you. :)
Each one of the suggestions have very good merit but unless you just plain have a BAD water pump (easy to just look in the fill neck), if you add up all the time and money it takes to do all those things, there is at least sound financial reason to at least consider replacing the radiator instead.
The first test I would absolutely do first is 'make sure the block is free of scale/rust'. No sense in upgrading anything without first making sure you are not going to contaminate the new parts with a bunch of sludge!
Then I'd add a new thermostat because it is easy and cheap. Moving forward, I'm seeing upwards of $800 in costs to do everything suggested. A new radiator is going to cost $350 at most.