USPS comes through......

 8:25 am - Saturday - February 26th - Newell House, AZ - 44° F, 46% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the north by northeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies again today with a forecast high of 68° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were supping at Manatee Bar and Grill in Salerno, FL.....one of my favorite pictures of us.......↴

I know I've been critical of the USPS over the past two years (think Wuhan flu years), but lately they've been doing a better job of getting the mail....at least my mail....from point A to point B.  The second package from the eBay seller from which I bought the two thermostats arrived Friday morning, earlier than promised, containing the correct gaskets.  Now I am set to open up both thermostat housings and install the new thermostats four days earlier than expected!  

To be sure I will be ready to hit the ground running on this last project Saturday morning I spent about 90 minutes Friday afternoon gathering together the tools I will need to remove the 8 bolts which hold the tops of those thermostat housings in place, and I am glad I did.  I determined pretty early on that I would need a 9/16" socket to removed the 8 bolts, but finding the correct 9/16" socket was the hard part.  While the bolt heads look pretty much unscathed considering they are at least 40 years old, both of the 9/16" sockets I had would slip when I attempted to turn the bolts....in fact, the first socket I tried actually developed a crack in the side of the socket.  After numerous trips into Newell House to search through Tom's large collection of SAE and Metric sockets I finally found a 9/16" socket (1/2" drive) that would work....it is what is called a '12 point' socket, and it worked.....

12 point 9/16" socket

......next up I needed to find a nut driver that would fit over the nut on the hose clamp, which I must remove first.  I was able to determine the correct sized nut driver would be 3/8", but because of the proximity of the hose clamp nut to the thermostat housing bolt head there was no room for the nut driver to get to the nut.  Fortunately, a 3/8" open end wrench will fit in there, so I'll begin the loosening process with the open end wrench, and when the nut clears the bolt head I'll finish removing it with the nut driver.....

3/8" nut driver (left) and 3/8" open end wrench (right)

.....once that was done, I unpacked the two packages to be sure I had everything I needed parts wise, and I do.....at least I think I do....lol.....

The two thermostats (left), the two seals (center), and two gaskets (right)

.....as my Dad used to day....."It's all over, but the shouting!"....I'm hoping it will be shouts of joy, not despair by the end of the day Saturday.

TLE and I pounded out another 2.5 miles of fast walking, and I began to stow a few things away in the trailer in anticipation of our departure early next week.  It is hard to believe we have been here 6 weeks already, but that every present 'hitch itch' tells me it must be so.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to buy a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!