Roger:

Nice photos--and beautiful black paint job!  Here are a
couple of comments:

I have an '81 with a BA-6, bought new in January '82 (25
years ago this month!) and my daily driver until 2002.  It
has LOTS of miles with the heater ON since it was my ski
car.  I have had two problems with the heater and a third
developing:

About '83, the heater failed; dealer replaced the flame-sensor
switch.

About '98 or so, the points on the end of the combustion
blower motor started failing.  I replaced that motor with a
used one.  I have done that again since.  In my view, those
points are the weak point (pun....) since they are NLA.
Some way to replace those points with something new would
be great; I haven't looked into that in detail.

In the last few years, I have a "spot" about 6 o'clock on
the thermostat where the relay behind the glove box starts
clicking wildly rather than just clicking off and on.  That
is part of the thermostat.  I removed that relay box, cleaned
the contacts--and it did nothing.  Maybe the real problem is
with the heat sensor in the furnace.  I'd love to have someone
who knows these beasts explain more to me.... (Robert K?  ;-)

One bit of advice I was given years ago that I agree with:
Use the heater.  Use is better than no use.  Long periods of
no use is when you get problems.

                        Richard A Jones
                        Boulder, Colorado