Cooling problems

It got better when I gutted the thermostat. Sending unit is at the waterpump housing.
This statment by the OP points directly points at a coolant flow issue.
Which water pump are you using?
I had this same problem with my BBM stroker, over heated all the time.
I found that the impeller was spinning on the drive shaft in the water pump, cut down the coolant flow a lot. After posting about it I found that is not an uncommon issue.