The engine needs a way to circulate coolant when the thermostat is closed, i.e. when starting the engine cold. To disable that would be ill-advised in my opinion.
Compared to older "warm-up" designs that bypass the radiator full time, the Cleveland warm-up system is a very good one. It circulates more coolant during warm-up, and yet no coolant bypasses the radiator when the engine reaches operating temp.
If your Pantera is having over-heating issues, make sure the cooling system has no air, and increase coolant flow at low rpm (smaller pump pulley, Flow Kooler pump, etc).
-G
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