Weekend Update: 254,365
My elusive coolant leak came back so decided to swap the thermostat gasket.
Drained coolant, removed alternator belt and removed the thermostat housing. The juggle valve was at 2:00
The nut at 10:00 on the thermostat housing brought the entire stud out with it, yay, other than that, no issues.
Reinstalled the same thermostat with a new gasket, PN 16325-62010, and clocked the jiggle valve to 6:00.
Torqued the stud and 2 nuts to 14# ft in 3 stages. So far so good.
Driving around I actually noticed slight higher temps with the jiggle valve at 6:00, but not by much, 2-4° or so.
Got tired of the fading clear coat on my hood and somehow still getting blinded by reflection and glare so I had my hood wrapped.
VViViD[emoji2400] Black True R Carbon Fiber Vinyl Wrap Roll with Air Release Technology (4 Foot by 5 Foot)
https://a.co/d/3NCVjJ5
Picked up the material from Amazon and found a local installer in South Bay willing to bro me a deal on the install, he even let me help (invaluable opportunity)