[Healeys] Water Pump BN1

[ATIGHTPROD at aol.com]

I just discovered a leak coming from what appears to be my water pump.  
Before I tore in to it, I thought I would check the Moss catalog and the list  
for advice. First off, I discovered the water pump gasket is no longer 
available  through Moss and was wondering if any of you folks have another source 
right off  hand. And second, although it appears to be a pretty straight 
forward job, is  there anything lurking in the darkness that's going to bite 
me when I start this  project? 
    I have no idea how good/bad of shape the water pump  is in and in that 
vein, will it be obvious to me if I need to replace it with a  new one? I'm 
thinking that this should be a couple of days work, if I need a new  one, 
one day if the old one is okay and I just have to replace the gasket. Am I  in 
the ball park? 
    And while I have everything apart, I was thinking  this would be a good 
time to also check my thermostat. Any way to tell if that's  okay or not 
just by visual inspection? My car has always run a bit hot and one  day I plan 
on either replacing or re-coring, but today is not that day,  today is just 
for reaching out and getting some advice. 
    Thanks in advance for any help the list can  pass along.
Steven Kingsbury
BN1 #598