I have no heater. To some of you that might be weird. Here in Alabama it doesn't get cold enough for me. So I had a hose looping around from the water pump to the thermostat housing. It looked ugly. No offense RJ. So Here is what I did to get rid of it.
JB Weld in the cavity.
Fabbed up new sensor location. 3/8" bung sunk inside the tube so the sensor has got good water flow around it.
Plugging the water pump.
Cutting off the heater hose from the theromstat housing.
Fresh paint.
Installed
New sensor location.