Dennis and all,
I guess I will have to replace the harness one day with the proper one, but
this thing
has all kinds of swapped parts.  Imagine a fire going for about 5  minutes,
and all that
is not metal or steel just melting.  The wiring, hoses, coolant  reservoir,
expansion tank,
thermostat housing...I mean I have a three-page receipt of all these  parts!
We basically
found the only salvagable van in Houston and bought it.  It happened  to be a
1984.  (Btw,
to the fellow that asked, the ECU came from the 1984 "donor van" and is
currently
mounted in the engine bay underneath the cabinet, near the left turn
signal).
The new parts were the starter, alternator, water pump, power-steering  pump,
battery,
etc. and a $422.21 ac compressor (hey, its Houston! ;-)  I think the
distributor came
from the 84, and we were able to use the same injectors.  I put this  van in
the shop on
6/16/04 and didn't get it back until 8/19/04.  I told them to take  their
time and do it right,
and boy did they!  I am proud of my mechanics, Shippers Foreign Auto  on
Canino Rd.
Blake Boerker kept my 77 Karmann Ghia going, my 84 Scirroco, and my sisters
old
Rabbit (don't remember the year?).  He literally begged me not to get  this
van, but I didn't
listen.  Nearly $7,000 later it runs like a champ, but TAKES TOO DAMN  LONG
TO WARM
UP ;-)  I'm sure we will fix this too eventually.  Btw, this is  my daily
driver so I HAVE to
keep it going.
I have been trying to keep from going to Blake, and save some money since I
was layed-off
last month...I'm just not that mechanically inclined.  I'm going to  try and
raise the idle,
and set the timing and see what happens.  I will probably have to go  see
Blake before I try
and take off to Minnesota in a little over three weeks!  I am moving  my wife
and two dogs
up :-(
thanks for the info!
james in Houston