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jrrbritt,
Are you certain that it is overheating? My 55 Bird's temp gauge was telling me the same thing. It wasn't until I put in a secondary temp gauge (a prewired digital unit that sits just inside the top rad hose on the radiator inlet and has its leads run to the inside of the car on top of the tranny hump) that I discovered that the car rarely ran over 178 degrees F, even though the dash gauge was dangerously close to going off the gauge at times. I 've relaxed a great deal since then, but still keep an eye on it frequently.
Previously I did have an overheating problem back 10 years ago. The problem I found was that the heat riser ( the flapper valve at the end of the passenger side exhaust manifold before the exhaust pipe) was sticking closed, instead of opening up when the engine got up to temperature. Some people have stripped the flapper valve off the shaft, in order to stay stock looking. Others have just maintained a frequent watch on the heat riser to ensure it never sticks closed, and lubed it frequently with a spray on graphite lube.
There are other reasons for the symptom, such as the timing being off, the rad being partially plugged, the system needing a flush, etc., and some research into your particular situation needs to be done. Get back to us with more if necessary.
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