1985 120V4 loop motor runs hot

Ok heres an interesting one so I think. Just picked up a 1985 V4 120 looper motor. Got an overheat alarm. Felt one side of motor nice and warm to the touch. Other side too hot to keep my hand on. Changed the water pump kit and two new OE Thermostats. Motor ran hot on both sides now. Too hot. Removed T-Stats and runs ice cold. Put the one old good TStat back in and one new one. Runs warm on old side and too hot on new side. Pulled all T-Stats out and put in hot water on stove. Well 140 degrees came and went and all T-Stats including the one that works properly didnt fully open until about 170 degrees. The only marking on old working T- Stat is 20CX. Any ideas ? Wrong listing on new parts even though they seem to be identical ?

Is the water valve still hooked up to throttle and heads???

Post doesn't tell if the engine overheat at idle or for example at WOT.
if its at idle and pressure seems fine then change the T-stats to open at 140F.
I got the same engine but with overheat issues at WOT , that was due to the water control valve malfunctioning.

Also.. Get a temp gun to achieve a bit more scientific approach solving the issue.

Not sure about the water valve ? But didnt alter anything form original set up. I will get a thermal sening device and check actuall running temp at. Seems hot but maybe its just at that 165 threshold. Thanks for replying. Also battling what I believe is a malfunctioning temp sensor so gonna handle that today and see where we are with thermal detection device.

All of this is going on at idle.