What do you mean transgel? I don't use dex-cool, I use the universal stuff since I have different makes of vehicles, it's easier. I know some say it's not as good of coolant or whatever but I've used it for 5-10 years on my vehicles without problems. I do flush my cooling systems every 100k miles max unlike many people, so that's probably a good thing.

I ordered the 41mm wrench on ebay for $20. Ordered new water pump gasket from autozone for $3. Ordered new lower radiator hose from autozone for $14. I already replaced the upper hose not long ago when the plastic thermostat housing broke, replaced that too with the upgraded aluminum part from autozone for ~$50. If I have all the parts saturday I'll fix it all up. I still don't know how to clean the gasket surface...I don't want to just start squirting silicone in there. It's hard because you can't even hardly see in there. I'm thinking just clean it the best I can, then apply some vasaline to the surface and tighten it down. Maybe that'd help seal it up without drying hard? I don't know though, maybe that'd get caught in the coolant and screw something up/clog something...?