Best laid plans.....

 8:49 am - Wednesday - February 16th - Newell House, AZ - 50° F, 47% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the west by southwest....100% cloud cover today with a forecast high of 61° F....big temp dive overnight!  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were watching a spectacular sunset on Marathon Key, FL......↴

I've been waiting to call my Detroit Diesel 2 stroke mechanic over in Mesa, AZ for a month to get an appointment to get the oil changed, as well as the two thermostats on our big Detroit Diesel 6v92 engine.  When I talked with him a month ago he said he was busy until after Valentines Day.  When I call him I call his cell phone, and he always answers, but the first two times I called Tuesday he did not.....I was hoping he was not avoiding me.....nervous lol.  I finally reached him around 12:30 pm on my third attempt only to find out he was in the hospital recovering from hernia surgery (something I know a lot about), and would not be available to work on the Newell for another 4-6 weeks (recovery time recommended by the surgeon)....doh!  Now I'm back to square one.  Waiting the month is not a big deal.....I was going to be here at Newell House at least that long anyway.  Anyway, new plan.  I'm going to replace the two thermostats (one for each 3 cylinder bank on the 6v92) myself, and get the oil changed at a local 'Speedco' in Tolleson, AZ on our way out of town.  

I don't know what the thermostats look like, or where they are located, but I actually have an operators manual for the 6v92, so I opened it to the page showing what it looks like.....

The exploded view of the thermostat housing and thermostat itself from the Operators Manual

.....I then called my friend, Steve Ward, to ask him if he knew where they were located, and he said he did.  Following his directions I was able to find one thermostat housing on each side of the 'front' of the 6v92 (on a diesel pusher with a rear facing fan the engine faces the back of the engine compartment).....here they are.......

Driver side thermostat housing

The passenger side thermostat housing

......the one on the driver side seems to be easier to get at, while the one on the passenger side will be a little more difficult, but at least I will not be UNDER the Newell for this job. With Steve's help I found a thermostat kit....Steve has replaced his thermostats so he sent me a picture of the part number.....

.....so I used that to find a thermostat replacement kit on eBay, and ordered it......

Thermostats, seals, and gaskets

......it should be here in the next week, to 10 days, and then I begin another, for me, big project.

On the VW brake job front after spending parts of two afternoons doing the front brakes it appears Amazon sent me the wrong pads, and rotors, so now I am back to square one on that project.  I think I'll just run into the Napa in Wickenburg Wednesday and get them there.  Oh well, not every project can go off without a hitch.

TLE and I walked another two miles quickly on Tuesday, which brings me to my next topic.....on the weight loss front I have now lost 10 lbs. in 16 days....a new record for me.  For those who may be wondering, I'm on a weight loss program that includes intermittent fasting.  You can only eat between 12 pm and 8 pm, and only liquids between 8 pm and 12 pm the next day....so, out of a 24 hour period you don't eat any food for 16 of those hours.  Exercise is part of that program, hence the two 1 mile walks at a fast pace each day.  There are no food type restrictions, other than eating smaller portions than you would normally.  There is a tad more to the diet that I will relate once I hit the one month mark, and have met my first interim goal.....lose 20 pounds....I'm half way there after just 16 days.  Ultimately I want to lose a total of at least 25, if not 30 pounds before I will be happy.  Right now I feel better, sleep much better, and t-shirts which did not fit two weeks ago are now wearable once again.

We are now deep into Season 2 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and loving it even more.....what a great series!

Thanks for stopping by!

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