on my 97 V6 Dakota? She warms up slowly (in my opinion, anyway), and I doubt it's been changed recently, so I ordered a new thermostat and gasket figuring it's no different than any other SB Mopar V8.

Wrong!

There is the whole aluminum mess up front of pulleys and accessories and what-nots that are in the way! Do I REALLY have to R&R the whole front of the engine JUST for a thermostat? The last one of these engines I've had was between 1990 and 1993, and that truck was new, so I never had top mess with it.