Factory Temp Gauge Reading

I know this has been discussed before and have been reading them. To recap my situation, I'm running the standard 180 thermostats and the temperature on the engine runs at the 180-190 range and does not overheat. When driving at a consistent 2,800 rpm (45ish mph) the gauge shows higher than when poking around at say 20-30 mph, as I would expect. The gauge shows about half way between the middle and the top when at the higher temp and maybe just a needle and half below when at the cooler range. I'd like to "adjust" the needle to the middle bar at normal to make it a little easier to eyeball when driving. So, as I understand it, I would add a 5 to 10 ohm resister between the temp sending unit and the wire heading to the gauge. Correct? For those who have done this, is it easier to put the resistor next to the sending unit or next to the gauge. I assume heat and water, if installed at the sending unit, won't be an issue.

 

Seems like a lot of work to adjust something to a set point that is dynamic. If I was attempting this, I would get a small adjustable potentiometer and install under the dash .

 

I looked for something like that but had no luck.

 

Works for me. As you can tell, it's still on my mind.