8 hp evinrude running hot

I have a 96 evinrude 8 hp that gets very hot around the head. It runs good for a couple minutes then sputters and smokes at w.o.t. I replaced waterpump housing, impellor, thermostat. When ran on muffs it doesn't take long before the head gets so hot you can't touch it for a second or two without getting burned. I think there may be a blockage not allowing water to flow properly enough to cool motor. Anybody ever run into a similar situation. Or have any good advise?

Find out what's blocking it before you kill it.
Was it a saltwater motor?

As far as I can tell its never been in saltwater. But im not 100%. Im thinking about pulling the head off and checking for a blockage. Had to replace impellor a couple years ago. Could pieces from the old busted impellor clog anything in particular?

Did you get the copper tube slid back into the correct spot when you put the foot back on? Very common to miss the hole on old motors.

If water is flowing out the pee hole pretty good then pulling the head would be a good idea since it's a piece of cake.
Impeller pieces or anything else can get jammed in the cooling ports. It doesn't happen often but it's possible.

Pull the thermostat back out, drop the lower unit and back flush the head, blast water in the thermostat opening, it will push any debris back down and out, I like to put a clean bucket under the low unit to catch anything that flushes out. You can find sand, all kinds of crap that gets lodged up there, or pieces of the impeller if they were missing.

If it is not peeing, its probably a simple blockage or you didn't get the water tube lined up when you put the lower unit back on.

Bufford

It is peeing a good stream, although it is pretty hot. I will try to flush through thermastat and see if anything comes out.