I wont try and rain on the parade its just I dont hardly ever find that bleeding the cooling system makes the sled not overheat anymore, mainly because they will pretty much move the air out on thier own, the redhead motors dont even have a thermostat.
Go ahead and try it because its the least amount of work, hopefully its just low on coolant. if the head gasket is blown it will either ingest antifreeze and smoke badly, spark plugs look wet and shiny or external leak from cylinder head.
I have fixed plenty of redhead engines that the crank gear slips on the crank and thus doesnt turn the waterpump impellar, slipping it making the sled run hot, hopefully your lucky and thats not it, report back, and let us know.