I have a friend whose furnace just quit. It's a very old gas type. The valve that is operated electrically by the thermostat no long opens. The pilot light is separate from the valve and the valve is seperate from, and outside of, the furnace. My question is this. Will any "universal" 24V 1/2 pressure furnace gas valve work as a replacement? Are there any other considerations? I've installed dozens of water heaters and hundreds of gas stoves but never a furnace or furnace valve and I'd hate to screw this up.

We all like to think of ourselves as rugged individualists. But when push comes to shove most of us are sheep who do what we are told. Worst of all, a lot of us become unpaid agents of whoever is controlling the agenda by enforcing the current dogma on the few rugged individualists who actually exist.