Hi Phil,

Permatex sells a flexible plastic scraper kit, I haven't tried yet.
That would be safer than any steel tool on soft aluminum.

I'm intrigued with the comment someone burned off old crusty gaskets with
a propane torch. Maybe done right would work and not do any damage.
You'd need to keep that old gasket debris from getting into coolant passages.

One point that's good is to flush the system before removing the old pump,
keep that old junk away from the new pump.

Don't re-use old coolant and brake fluid etc. except if you are in the Ukraine
and in a hurry trying to avoid a Russian cruise missile.

I'm lucky that it's just weeping instead of completely failed so I can procrastinate until the warmer weather when I'll need a new excuse to stall repairs.

Cheers, Bill

PS: My favorite George Santos joke:
"Not the only liar in the building"