Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
Ok, here we go. Make sure you have a good scraper. Buy some chemical gasket remover but wear goggles and rubber gloves. The FBI hates this stuff because it will remove your fingerprints ( from your fingers). Ask how I know. Do some research to see if you need to use thread sealant.
Have a pan ready underneath the car. The biggest thing is, you have to remove all of the old gasket from the block. If they used gasket sealant it might take hours. Have lots of beer on hand.
A small torque wrench is nice but not totally required. Lots of ways to deal with gaskets. I'll let the others chime in on their favourite techniques.
I highly recommend watching a you tube video of your model of car. Also see if you can find a torque sequence and torque value. One other tip is to use a half inch ratchet, not a girly-man 3/8. You might have to give it some tough love when disassembling every thing. I recommend taking photos of everything. It's discouraging to find a spare nut after you have it buttonedy up. And worse, it dribbles coolant because you didn't clean the block. Good luck.
Did I mention cleaning the block?
This isn't 1970...no one uses paper gaskets on a water pump, nowadays!
As long as the surface isn't corroded, usually the gasket comes right off and a simple wipe down of the surface cleans it up!