not sure if the 02 tstat/housing is different from the 99-01s but i did it in my 00, worked great, just put a bb in as a spacer. idles at just a tick below 185 now

big tex has also done this on his 99 truck, he had a picture somewhere, you might try searching for it, cant remember if it was this forum though <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="images/icons/confused.gif" />

 

In the early days of free LS1 mods, there was a free thermostat mod that lowered effective temperature to the 180 deg range. It involved a small spacer at the end of the actuating rod.

The how-to I looked at was for a thermostat that doesn't look like the same exact design that's in an '02 5.3.

Does that mod still apply?