Last but not least and used for decades in some parts of Alaska and other
cold climates best left to creatures other than human you can always get it
started and leave it running until Spring arrives.  i don't recommend this
option especially with a Vanagon but it does work.  It is also why used
trucks from the North Slope are a bad investment, way too much idling for
their low mileage.  Years ago I worked in the Parts Dept of a Ford
dealership and we sold reman. engines like they were popcorn to the Slope.

Mark in AK

On Sat, Jan 2, 2016 at 2:04 PM, Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@gmail.com
> wrote:

> On 01/02/2016 02:35 PM, Richard Smith wrote:
>
> All of our vehicles had block heaters. The vws had a circular thing
>> under the centre of the crankcase. They also had a "battery blanket"
>> to keep the battery warm. Vanagons have no space for those, but they
>> were essential back in the day.
>>
>
> Seems like there'd be enough space for something like this:
>
> <
> http://www.autozone.com/1/products/18125-battery-pad-heater-22400-kats-heaters-22400.html
> >
>
> --
> Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
> 1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
> Bend, Ore.
>