Nothing I can find anywhere, online or in haynes guide says anything about the metal brackets/rods in the way of removing the thermostat housing. there is a metal bracket that is bolted to one of the thermostat bolts and immovable without removing another bracket and nut from a cylinder above and center. it was really difficlut to loosen the nut, but now that i have it loose, it appears to be holding together this other cylindrical thing which I have no idea what it is, it appears to be attached to the drive belt. the cylinder to which i am referring has the words "load" and linear" on it. Am I going to mess something up if I remove these nuts? any help or ideas would be appreciated.

sorry, i figured it out, it's the drive belt tensioner. what a pain!

That sounds like the tensioner alright. Why are you removing that to get to the t-stat housing?

I got it all fixed. I wish I didn't have to unboldt the tensioner, but it was a necessity to remove the thermostat housing-- it's braces were bolted to the top of one of the housing bolts.

am i stupid? I opened up the housing to replace the thermostat, removed old gasket and sealant, replaced gasket, used blue rtv, but the seal didn't take, had a leak. So I went through it again, this time used the permatex gasket maker specifically for thermostats (grey), new gasket, waited 18 hours for it to cure before refilling rad, and I still have a bad seal! This is driving me crazy. Does anyone have any specific tips? It's a total pain in the but to get at on my '89, so this repeated sealing is irritating to say the least...

Well, there is no way to get around it. we have to remove the tensioner "rod" belt in order to get easy access to the thermostat. as for the seal? i use the redish color one which is made for anti freeze / gasket sealant. works great for me on this end. no leaks

red rtv is what i ALWAYS use, but it's just a coloring, an rtv should work i think. make sure ALL surfaces are clean. last time i changed the thermostat in my truck I emery clothed the thermostat housing and the intake where it bolts to to make ABSOLUTE sure it would be a good seal.