RE: Engine temp.
It should be noted that some of the best engines were produced by machinist's not engineers. Fox, Veco, and the K&B lines all had engines which were originally designed by machinists not engineers. Although I suppose engineers have helped improve designs, I don't think it normally is a lot of fancy engineer design going into most engines. Engineers are probably spending more time figuring our how to produce them cheaper and improving manufacturing techniques than the actual design.