Hello, Vanagon Listers!

We just purchased our very first VW, an '84 Vanagon camper (conversion done
by Country Homes) which we have christened Sweet Melinda.  How exciting!  As
a newbie to the world of VW maintenence, I am finding many of the posts here
to be quite technical, but look forward to learning more as I go along.  The
recent tire thread really helped me out, as I just replaced all 4 tires (van
came with two worn out tires in the front and two studded snow tires in
back, which will come in handy next winter!).  Here's my question for the
list... this weekend I was teaching my husband how to drive a stick shift
(go ahead and giggle) and we were out for about an hour doing the whole
start-stop thing.  We were both dying of heat, even though it was off, and
noticed that a LOT of heat was coming out of the front, right onto our legs.
  Is this anything to be concerned about?  It seems that most of the crucial
parts that would overheat are in the rear, so what's making the front hot?
We had the van checked out before we bought it by a mechanic and also had
some work done (rear brake work and a new water pump), and so far as we
know, the van is in prime working order.  Perhaps this is just a normal
thing for a Vanagon?  Any advice would be appreciated.

Happy trails!
Natalie

P.S.  If this is important, the only thing we were advised would need work
in the future is the exhaust system needs to be replaced.  The PO apparently
welded it in spots to stop the leaks and now the mechanic says they will
have to replace the whole thing.  But he said it wasn't something that was
crucial to do now.

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