That's weird. According to the gauge they should be uncomfortable to touch. Is your gauge in the crossover, or in the head?
I've been playing with my system (over in the Cooling section), and I've had some inconsistent results at times too. What I have concluded is that even tho you have a 160 Tstat, it doesn't mean it will flow enough to keep it at 160. At some point the tstat will be open as far as it can go, and then air flow and radiator size become the determining factors after coolant flow to the radiator is maxed out. I removed my tstat recently, and got a roughly 30 degree drop in temp. I'm happy with that drop, but I want to run a tstat so I can get up to normal temp quicker.
I'd be curious if you put a laser temp gun (available cheap online) on those hoses while running. A functional radiator should make the lower hose relatively cool to the touch.
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"...ridge reamer and ring compressor? Do they have tools like that?"
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