{Chrysler 300} Advice for a Hurst that is new to Texas

Greetings from down south. Having moved here fairly recently, I'm loving the fact that I'm still going to cruise nights during the week and car shows/swap meets on the weekends here in central Texas in January, but I know I'll be paying for it next summer.

On that note, I've pulled the radiator from my A/C equipped Hurst to have it pressure tested, cleaned, flow tested, etc. by a reputable radiator shop in the area. I'm also taking advantage of the somewhat emptied engine bay to change upper and lower radiator hoses and heater hoses.

My question to the group is, I believe the thermostat in the car is a 190 degree unit, which never, ever gave me any issues on 90+ and humid summer days in New England, but with multiple 100+ degree days in my future, and while everything is out of the way, should I consider replacing the thermostat with one of a different value, such as 180 or even 160?

The A/C works fine as far as cooling is concerned, but there doesn't seem to be much difference in fan speed between medium and high speeds on the dash. I'm hoping that with a flush, clean, flow and pressure test, when I put it all back together it will be quite some time before anything has to come apart again, so now's the time to decide on a value for the thermostat. I've seen some things on the internet about people drilling 1/8" holes in the plate of the thermostat so there is some flow even before it opens on its own, etc., but I don't want to do anything strange to a car that has only overheated that one time I was doing over 100 mph and threw the small belt for the water pump pulley. I don't do that dumb stuff anymore, but I will want to try to make the system bullet/Texas proof while I have it apart. That radiator (original to the car) will be cooling the tranny as well as the motor, and will have the big condenser in front of it pulling Texas heat out of the interior, so any advice would be appreciated.

Looking forward to going to Fredericksburg this coming September, as it is less than 2 hours from my house, which is pretty much just down the street for Texas driving. ;-)