on 9/28/2000 3:23 PM, Jeffrey R at Oxroad@AOL.COM wrote:

> You're jerking me here right???
> 
> You mean to tell me you have to remove the entire thermostat housing to
> replace the thermostat.
> Frustrated south of Reno, NV
> Jeff
> 83.5 Westy
> 
Jeff, I'm afraid that in order to do it completely right the first time�you
must remove the entire unit.  I performed this procedure in January of this
year. When it's done right it can give excellent sealing among the surfaces.
Use the grey permatex sealer (follow directions for pre-curing prior to
installation!) on all sealing surfaces and make sure they are clean.

    This is my story on what I replaced. Took two days and I had
disassembled the entire rear of the engine.
    On January,2000 @ 240K-New water pump, new metal coolant line that runs
from right head to pump (behind pulley), new thermostat, coolant recovery
tank, new coolant level sender, small cooling hoses that were removed for
the H2O pump, oil breather o-ring, distributor o-ring & really flushed out
the system and added fresh Autobahn coolant.
    Prior to the service there was a coolant leak and a few oil leaks form
the distributor and oil breather tower. It's dry as a bone now.