im about to do a water pump / t-stat. i had removed my whole emissions system and plugged the vac fittings. on the current stat housing i still have the vac fitting and two lines to the cannister. can i just disconnect / plug these and go with a simple chrome t-stat housing without affecting any running issues?

If you have eliminated all of the emissions crap, you can certainly change the t-stat housing to one that does not have the threaded hole for the thermal valve. However....chrome housing? I would shy away from them....they will leak unless modified. The chrome is hard, and slick, which makes it impossible to seal properly, not matter what kind of gasket, sealer, sealer with gasket, gasket with more sealant, whatever. The ONLY way to use one and it not leak is to grind the chrome off of the sealing surface where the gasket goes. Same can be said for the hoses....the slickness of the chrome makes it hard for the hoses to seal, but they seem to fair much mo bettah than the housing gasket.

Another option if you're looking for some bling is to use a polished, stock style aluminuminum t-stat housing. It'll be shiny, and it will not leak. 🙂

thanks for the advice on the housing. as for the evap system i wont be affecting how the car runs by disconnecting that system? just want to make sure

Shouldn't have any effect at all on engine performance. All the system does is collect fuel vapors from the fuel tank and store them in the cannister. Once the engine is started, it draws the vapors out of the cannister and sucks them into the intake to be burned. Engine won't know if the system is working or not.....it don't care, either...😁

thanks. now if i wanted to be a good steward of the environment, should i connect that line to one of the blanked off vac fittings under the carb? or just say eff the whole thing and remove the lines. i guess owning one of these cars negates all that anyhow 😁

I had an original type t-housing that I could never get to seal.  I even sanded the surface that contacts the gasket smooth to no avail.  I replaced it with a type that uses an o-ring and it has not leaked so far.

Remove the lines going to the cannister and be done wid it. 😉

so i just got the housing with the o-ring. silly question , but do i need to use any additional gasketing or RTV with that?

No gasket sealer needed -- just make sure the mating surface of the intake manifold is scraped clean.