As a mater of fact, my ol' 59 Westy had good heater boxes and I really insulated the tube that brought it up front.  It would actually keep the windshield fairly clear.  Just don't open that flap to heat you feet!  Having a good sized dog to lay on one's lap helps too.

Dave B.

-----Original Message-----
From: Roy Nicholl <RNicholl@NBNet.nb.ca>
To: ddbjorkman@verizon.net <ddbjorkman@VERIZON.NET>
Cc: vanagon <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tue, Jan 2, 2018 2:44 pm
Subject: Re: It's cold out there

Dave:

We have the same issue - I just keep telling myself it’s much better than the J-tubes on the ’66 trying to send warm air to the front of the bus.

> On 02-Jan-2018, at 15:11, ddbjorkman@verizon.net <ddbjorkman@VERIZON.NET> wrote:
> 
> Ford battery died and the Bus (Vanagon) has been put into extra service.  Always starts right up, hope I didn't put a whammy on myself with that.  Well, it's into the single and low double digits here in New England and I have noticed the Bus has a hard time maintaining heat to the interior.  My temp gauge sits on the lower edge of the red light.  It takes the normal 5 + minutes driving to warm up enough to move the gauge far enough off bottom to turn the heat on at all.   I am considering constructing some sort of bra to go over the upper grille to decrease air flow over the radiator.  First I thought  I might post this question.  Is this normal in the frigid cold?  Have others experienced this?  Could it be a malfunctioning thermostat?  Does someone make said bra/cover?  I await your reply.
> 
> Dave B.