Well, I finally got the van fired up today and did my five minute run. 
I tried last night, only to find that my ignition problem had returned. I 
ran a jump wire from the voltage regulator to the coil and tried for a 
while, but noticed no fuel making it to the filter. After a few more 
tries, I figured it must be the fuel pump, which I used from the spare 
(mine has been pink with signs of slight leakage).

After my five minutes of glory, I changed the oil and ran her for another
five minutes or so. She's not idling right, but she seems to be smoothing
out more and more as I run her. 

A couple of things I don't understand:

- a little clatter (sounds like a *small* locust; not a GIGANTIC one 
like Muir describes for broken rings) seems to be coming from the left 
side of the engine. Have I been away from VWs for so long that I forgot 
this sound, or do you recon it's more likely I broke a ring while 
installing them? Would a compression test yeild up the evidence?

- I left the right side tin off the bottom to see if I could tell whether I 
need to adjust the thermostat. After the second five minutes running, I 
hand-checked the temperature on the engine. The right heat exchanger was 
warm (maybe 150 degrees, but not too warm to put my hand on it); the left 
side heat exchanger was downright cool--like 75 degrees. It's probably 65 
degrees out today. Could this difference be explained solely on the basis 
of the tin being off? Any ideas on what else might cause this?

Anyway, it feels great to hear an engine run knowing it was given new 
life by my hands. It'd be a shame to find something is wrong with this 
now, but I know I could rebuild it again if need to.

Another problem I'm having is with the ignition. Even with the jump wire 
run across, I've had to jiggle the wires leading into the ignition to get 
her to start. I'm sure I can track this one down, though I don't look 
forward to removing the steering column. My local FLAPS wants $32.54 for 
the electrical part of the switch (of course, I might simply be suffering 
from loose connections.

BTW, my regular e-mail account is down, so please direct replies to this 
message to:

jfourni@cavern.uark.edu

Thanks! Joe