Teleflex makes a temp guage kit for outboards. West Marine has them. They run about 45.00. The gauge has the correct temp range for outboards so you can see smaller variations. It also works with the stock Merc temp sender if you have one.
It does not work if connected to a Merc temp switch such as the one the makes the alarm go off but does inclued a thermocouple (sender) and mounting bracket.