Its not a Riv but its the same engine so I appreciate any info...

95 Park Ave.
NASeriesII Engine

I pulled the thermostat housing and it has the remains of a black gasket that is going to be tough to remove without scarring up the intake where the water neck attachés.
Any tips on getting that crap off without gouging up the aluminum?

I know the thermostat has a O ring that goes around it.

Does the thermostat housing also need a gasket?

Thanks

Bert:tavis:

A gasket scraper should take care of it.

Some used Gaskets and some used O-rings. Depends on the LIM and housing. Parts books have the answer. I have both hanging on my garage wall...

If it has an O-ring, it shouldn't need a gasket. Some people don't trust the lack of gasket and goop it up with RTV but I've never had to. Just make sure you use a new o-ring if that's what was there. The old one is probably compressed and won't seal anymore.

It has a O ring in there now. I will replace with a new O ring and try it without a gasket.
Thanks for the reply.
Bert:tavis:

I believe the later cars had both. I'm about 100% sure I got a new o-ring and a typical gasket when I swapped thermostats last year.

They have BOTH. The thermostat itself has a gasket that goes around the outside of that middle ring, then there's a paper style gasket that you use to seal up the housing.

Make sure you get both. I don't think you need to use any RTV or anything like that, though.

The ones I've taken apart with O-rings did NOT have a gasket OEM. It should only take one or the other.

Your new thermostat should come with a gasket - but you know, making gaskets is not that tough. You need a sheet of "gasket material" (one 10" x 26" sheet of Fel-Pro 3157 - a neoprene/fiber gasket) that should be about $5 and tax. For small stuff like this it's a lifetime supply; it does not deteriorate if you store it reasonably (cool dry place). And some shop supplies - a scrap of masonite or plywood or such to use as a cutting board (or even a cutting board from the dollar store), an "X-Acto" type knife (easier to maneuver than a box knife or razor) and a marker (a fine point sharpie is nice, often a simple pencil will work).

Put gasket material over cutting board. Take the movable piece from what you're assembling, put it over the gasket material and trace the outline including the bolt holes. For small cast items, you can put the thing down and whack it a couple times with a rubber mallet to make an impression in the gasket if you want. Anyway - use the X-Acto knife to cut out the gasket along the lines of the impression or tracing. You may want to cut from one side then flip the gasket over and cut from the other side to get neat lines. If you do this it might help to poke the knife point through the material enough to give you a tracing of perforations to follow when you flip the gasket. One thing I do, also, to make things easier is that I position the thing I'm gasketing such that it takes up a minimum of gasket material. So if there is a flat edge on it, for instance, I position that flat edge on an edge of the material. Then after I trace it, I cut it away from the big sheet with scissors and finish up the fine cuts with the X-Acto knife.

One benefit of making your own gaskets is that for certain gaskets, the gasket supplied with the item (a thermostat for instance, or certain mechanical fuel pumps) may be universal and may not fit that well - it may be too big or may not have holes in the right places for *your* application. If you cut the gasket yourself, you'll get it right.

For some applications you may prefer a cork and rubber gasket, it will be thicker and a buck or so more per 10x26 sheet and you'll probably want to use a black, blue, or silver Sharpie or Vis-a-Vis (temporary transparency) marker to do the tracing.

Albertj

Thanks for all the replies.

I ended up using the O ring and a Fel Pro gasket for the thermo. housing.

The gasket the factory had installed was hard as a rock so I used some Permatex gasket remover to soften it up. After soaking it with the gasket remover the gasket came off a lot easier.

I mixed distilled water with Dex Cool and refilled the radiator, bled the air.
Replaced all the factory spring clamps with traditional clamps for convenience.

Just now got finished and its dark outside so I will check again tomorrow to make sure its full and verify there are no leaks...

Found time to do some reading today about Dex Cool. From what I could tell it seems like GM has decided part of the problem is nobody ever takes the cap off anymore and checks the radiator to be sure its full. They just eyeball the reservoir and if looks correct, drive it.

I pulled the reservoir and in the very bottom of it where the drain tube is placed there was about a 1/4" of crud. The crud would probably keep the coolant from flowing through the tube between the reservoir and the radiator.

Bert:tavis:

What do you want to bet that the "Crud" is the factory fill of radiator stop leak (crushed walnut shells)?



Albertj

Sure enough, the dumbass:shout: NAPA parts schmuck gave me a 180* thermostat.
I just got through swapping it.

Bert:tavis:

I'm about to install a 180* thermo from Intense. It did not come with a gasket or an O-Ring...before I remove the old stock one, is there a gasket or oring I should buy prior?

have the parts store look up your car. I can't recall when they changed from gasket to o-ring, and I don't think it's consistent across different models.

.....tip of the hat.

Advance listed and stocked a Fel Pro gasket that appeared to be identical to what was left of the gasket that the factory installed.

I used the O ring(required) around the thermostat, AND the gasket between the waterneck(thermostat housing), and the intake.


Bert:tavis: