In a message dated 8/31/00 10:34:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM writes:

<< The most recent to go was the thermostat
 housing which appeared to have developed a small leak which grew into a
 gusher when the metal pipe blew out.  >>
    Just replaced mine on my '87 Westy with close to 300,000 km on it.  The
plastic just disintegrated.  Especially around the lower hose connections.
Ordered a new one from TBD and installed it yesterday.  Took me about 10
trips back and forth under the van to find an allen key to remove the two
retaining bolts.  The allen head recess gets full of crap and corroded so the
size is not immediately ascertainable.  Finally got a small pick and cleaned
out the frigin' recess then went through my pile of allan keys till I found
one that fit snug enough to wrench the two bolts loose.  The rest of the
process was a piece of cake !  AND, the hoses connecting to the thermostat
housing all seemed to be all in fine shape except for the one small one
coming off the top toward the front from the bleeder circuit.  I put in a new
piece.

Cheers

Frank Condelli
'87 Westy & Lionel Trains
<A HREF="http://www.vanagon.com/">Vanagon List</A>, <A
HREF="http://www.bcn.net/~limbo/">LiMBO</A>, <A
HREF="http://www.westfalia.qc.ca/CIW_English.asp">IWCC</A> & Capital City VW
Club member
Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service for the Ottawa Valley
<A HREF="http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/stebro.htm">STEBRO/Vanagon Stainless
Steel Mufflers</A>
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
<A HREF="http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/busindex.html">Frank Condelli &
Associates</A> or http://frankcondelli.com