Date:         Sun, 2 Dec 2007 17:54:49 -0800
Reply-To:     GMac999 <gmac999@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         GMac999 <gmac999@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: New thermostat funky?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

Mike and Geza,

What I did for my '84 GL was to use the regular '84 bra, but...
When I
went to North Dakota, I took a piece of black vinyl from a fabric
store, cut
it so it was about 1" larger than the upper and lower openings in the
bra.
I then hand sewed some 1/4" hook side of Velcro on the edges of the
shiny
side.  Around the upper and lower opening bead on the bra side I
sewed the
loop side.  I take the bra off monthly and wash/wax if needed, that
area, so
if the weather was getting cold, then I just Velcro's the pieces in
place,
then put it back on.

Even with the complete openings to the front of the radiator blocked
off, it
wouldn't run "normally" during the winter.  It still stayed colder.
I had
to insulate all the plumbing under the van and around the engine to
get it
to come close to normal on a cold, -20 degree F, day.

Even with the front covered and the plumbing insulated, on a 55
degree day
that I forgot to remove the bra panels, it stayed at normal temp.
The fan
ran quite a bit more, even on the interstate, but it didn't overheat.
 I'm
assuming it could pull enough air around the spare tire area to keep
it
cool.

GregM

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
Behalf Of
Geza Polony
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 6:20 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: New thermostat funky?

Mike,

My impression, pretty much without basis in fact, is that the VW
engineers
with their now-famous 30 days to come with a WBX, decided to install
an
oversized cooling system and be done with the overheating complaints.
After
all, that was why they went to the WBX in the first place, no? And
with only
30 days, better safe than sorry...wouldn't they have felt like fools
to come
up with a water-cooled version that overheated?

Anyway, the Vanagon cooling system with its huge capacity assures
that
unless something is seriously wrong, you aren't going to overheat in
a
Sonora Desert traffic jam in August. Maybe the fan will go on, but
that's
it. Pretty good.

Now here is a solution to the overcooling problem.  Buy a bra for an
AIRCOOLED Vanagon of C. 1982 vintage. Take it down to your local
seamstress
lady. Have her cut out the area around the radiator inlet, three
sides only,
and sew in a heavy-duty zipper. In summer, tuck it down and under; in
winter
when you just can't heat up the engine, zip it back up. Far more
elegant
than cardboard. Whatcha think of that? And imagine the seamstress's
reaction
when you say you want a zipper in a big bra. Worth it for that alone.


Geza





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