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Oh, yeah! Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt. My 'moment' came when, deciding that I was tired of a 'no heat' situation, I decided to go out to the (unheated) garage, in January, in NEOhio, and replace my obviously stuck-open thermostat. BUT, before I started on the Volvo--the one I really needed to get done--I thought that the 'stat on the MGB, sitting next to it would be a good warm-up. Easy. Right on top. Lets see: Cold tools? Check! Cold water? Yep! New thermostat and gasket? Hmmmmm. So, took the daughter's car out to the Advance Auto Store, (and the gas station) in the middle of a snowstorm for the thermo and the new gasket. Got back home. Found the thermo that I just KNEW I had bought a few weeks ago, sitting on the floor, in the box, in front of the car. Now I have two. Cold coolant? Plenty of that. 50+ year-old hands? Standard equipment.
Start by making a mess draining the coolant. Man, that stuff really IS cold! Got it thoroughly splashed around, especially on my hands, which are only slightly beginning to freeze. Grabbed hold of the necessary cold wrenches and other tools needed to complete the job. Happily unbolting the necessary stuff to get to where we need to be. Hands only beginning to lose feeling in the fingertips. No big deal. I'm having FUN! Get everything unbolted, with just a final splash for good measure. Drop a few of the fasteners, a screwdriver, and a socket onto the (wet) garage floor. Get down on hands and 50+ year-old knees to look for the stuff, most of which is either sitting in the EXACT center of the car (too far to reach), or hiding behind one of the tires. (1:4 correct guess ratio). Now jacket and pant legs are wet, and knees are reminding me why cold and wet are not really a good idea. Could actually hear them creaking a la Wizard of Oz and the Tin Man.
Everything's gotta be clean, right? So, here am I wiping the surfaces with a rag moistened with acetone. Wow! Now that stuff is REALLY cold! And what are those rainbow colors I see around the work light? Hmmph. Better get that checked out sometime.
Gasket is being somewhat of a bugger, so I get out my trusty single-edge blade scraper to make sure all the sticky bits off the the mating surfaces, start to scrape....and promptly cut myself. Bleeding from a wound on a cold finger does not hurt any less than a warm one. Wrap my finger with a shop rag. The one with the acetone on it. YIKES! Stings like an SOB! Drop my scraper....under the car. Back on hands and knees to retrieve it. Wet knees again...and dirty, besides.
Get it all together once more. Scrape, sand, steel wool, wipe off the blood, 'till all is nice and shiny and clean and flat.
While I'm at it, I'll change the mounting studs that are in the head, since the base of two of the three sit IN the water jacket (!) Two come out easily. Third one needs a bit of persuasion....and a tap to chase out the threads. Drop the (cold) tap set on the floor and spend the next half hour picking up all the little taps and dies from around the garage. (With only a little momentum, a die will roll 20' or more. Don't ask me how I know.) Finally put the kit all back together, grabbed the little handle and proceed to insert the correct tap....which proceeds to promptly fall out and into the hole where the thermostat fits into the head. WHAT!!?? Had to fish it out with my trusty (cold) magnet on a bendy wand. Was verrrry lucky that I was able to retrieve it.
Finger stopped bleeding. Which didn't really matter, since I had no feeling left in any of them.
Located my new studs to insert. Put all three of them on top of the radiator, so I knew where they'd be while I got the correct socket and ratchet for the job. Came back not 20 seconds later....and there are now only TWO sitting there. Nope. Right at the centerline of the car. Wet knees, hands, and bleeding. Again. Wipe my hands off. Did I mention that acetone really cleans them...and stings like crazy? And those colors! Gotta check that work light out. Maybe tomorrow.
Studs all in, with the appropriate anti-seize. For the record, anti-seize is not affected by cold weather. But you still can't get it off your clothes, when the goopy brush falls out of your frozen hand and onto your shirt. What IS affected by cold weather is the gasket goop that just won't come out of the tube unless you warm it up. Under an armpit is OK....once you get over the initial shock of a frozen tube of sealant placed there.
No longer bleeding, again, but getting really weary of the direction that this job is taking. However....I'm almost done with this one, so I press on! Spread a little bit of sealant on the mating surfaces of the head and housing. A little bit on the gasket itself. I don't bother with any kind of spreading tool, since my hands are totally wrecked by now. I'm sniffling. Rainbows abound. And I finally, and ever so gracefully ease the top of the thermostat housing, over the studs and the lovingly-placed gasket and tighten it all down with some stainless decorative acorn nuts that I was able to score at my local fastener shop....just as a finishing touch. Hoses reattached and clamped. Fresh coolant added. Tools put away (the MG is NOT metric. Not at all. So I had to put the standard tools away before I tackled the Volvo from my metric tool boxes) and I was going to go back in the house and warm up my frost-bitten digits. Maybe have a well-deserved drink.....before I tackled the 240). As I'm walking towards the door leading to the house, I kick something. Two things, actually. BOTH new thermostats which were sitting on the garage floor.....
Ever seen a grown man cry? Thank goodness for acetone fumes!
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