^^Bob, you beat me to it by a whisker^^
Agreed, it may be that the carb is running leaner than before. Prior to the rebuild the carb could have been a bit on the rich side but now that it has been rebuilt the air/fuel ratio may be a bit leaner. Proper air/fuel ratio for 1969 was 14.4 parts air to one part fuel. If it were running richer than that temps would have been down. If it has been leaned out the engine will run a bit hotter. If I remember correctly the proper idle mixture screw (which controls a/f ratio) setting on the AVS was 3-1/2 turns out from fully seated (screwed all the way in). You might want to check with your carb man and see where he set the idle mixture screw and if he changed either the jetting or the metering rods to a larger diameter. If he did not change jets or metering rods I'd say its running just about right. In all actuality if your temp gauge reads correctly (mine doesn't) a little past half is just fine for a normal operating temperature. I'd start getting concerned if it was pegging at 3/4 of the way up, though.