It is now regularly over 50 degrees in Maine -- at least during the day. I finally got around to putting on the new thermostat, replacing the broken mini-accordion that was on there. This car has a 1974 2.0 with 40 mm dual dellortos on it. The bar that the thermostat wire attaches to is restricted at each end as to how far it can close. In other words, when cold, the thermostat can only pull it closes only so far because there are these two small pieces of flat metal that prevent it from going further. I can remove them but figure they are there for a reason. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Just leave it alone.
Make sure everything ,flaps, spring, pulley wheel, cable, is in good working order and set it up as per spec.