Just a little trick I did, (read it somewhere, so I take no credit for it, but it worked nicely)... to reduce or eliminate the coolant contamination to the engine bay. Not to say that this would eliminate the need to change your oil afterwards, but it does provide a piece of mind.
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You'll need a shop vac, a hose small enough to fit into the thermostat housing and a bucket with a lid.
I took an old bucket with a lid, like a joint compound bucket or I used a pool chemical (empty) bucket that had a tight lid for it.
I cut 2 holes into the lid, one tight to the hose diameter/size and the other the diameter size of the vacuum hose. The holes where placed on opposite sides of the lid. If the holes are a little big it's ok, just use some tape, duct tape if you want to seal it to the lid.
Vacuum hose goes into the lid but not deep into bucket, just a few inches. The hose goes all the way to the bottom.
Start the vacuum and bring the hose you will use to suck the coolant to the thermostat housing. Turn on the vacuum as you remove the thermostat housing and WHOOLA, no coolant leaking all over, then place the hose into the thermostat housing to suck out what is in the lim. As an added bonus, I opened the radiator cap and sucked the coolant to a level BELOW the LIM and when I opened it, I saw absolutely NO coolant in there.
Anyways... just a suggestion. Not really orthodox, adds a little work, but I felt it would be easier to empty bucket than clean up coolant. Also, the coolant does not enter the vacuum, so good there too.
Enjoy!
