82 Spider Coolant tee

[hifijoes]

Just updated my cooling system replace thermostat and fan switch and filling up with coolant. Was almost complete but when I topped up at coolant tee, screw went it sideways and stripped inside tee.
When I replace tee with new, am I going to lose all the coolant I just put in ??
Should be able to capture most of coolant with a oil tray.
Any advise ?
Thanks

[DRUMMOND]

siphon the coolant out till it is below tee from the rad cap

[MattVAS]

Best advice I ever got was not to use the tee as the final fill spot.
I've always installed a burp tee in the long heater hose to do the final fill from. This has to be the best trick I ever learned for burping the 124 engine. Also, since I've worked at Vick Auto for coming up on 10 years, you'd all die if you knew how many people strip the front tee trying to burp the air out.

[aj81spider]

+1 on the T in the heater hose. Since I've done that burping the system has been easy and error free!

[tima01864]

Will the tee bought at the Auto Store fit inside the heater hose?

[MattVAS]

It should. Most of them are 5/8" so the generic store should have one that fits.