On Aug 24, 2009, at 5:54 PM, Greg Potts wrote:

> I never worry about turning on the heat too soon in winter...
> because in
> my 46 years of experience with long Canadian winters you don't get any
> until the engine is ready to give it to you anyhow.

I spent a winter in western Massachusetts with an '85 Westy, and it
took exactly 7 minutes to begin to get heat after starting the van
and driving off to my destination.

I had a rear-heater blow-out once in that same '85 Westy: climbing a
9000' mountain in Colorado, on the upside.  I coaxed her over the
peak and drove downhill to Grand Junction, where I stayed overnight
at a KOA and found a VW repair shop in town the next day, which got
me back in the road in a jiffy.  I recall a wall full of postcards
from volks such as the "green bus people" who had stopped for service
and then gone on with their road trip.  Nice memory.  Hope yours
turns out as well.

Melissa Mourkas
84 Westy "Honey Bee"
Sacramento, CA