on nov 8,  mitch wrote: 

 Not only don't I have a thermostat, the heat risers (tubes 
going from the exhaust pipes to the intake manifold) are cut off and 
welded shut!  The last guy to work on this engine was quite the butcher!
Anyway, here's the questions in my mind:  

So it will reduce the life of the engine... How Much?  Will I only get 
100K instead of 150K miles?

Living in N. Florida, am I not STILL better of that somebody in Minnesota 
that HAS a thermostat?

Being the rookie wish-I-was-a-good-vw-mechanic, I probably have other 
factors that will shorten my engine life more than the lack of a 
thermostat, don't I?

Putting in a thermostat is an engine-out job, isn't it?

How many of you would put one in at this point?

um-  When first took I motor out and apart I didn't know what a thermostat
was.  Mine didn't have one.  I had already driven my 59 around for three
years, including a cross country and back expedition,  before it needed work,
just a valve job and new rings, and the compression was  1-120, 2-125, 3-105,
4-125   when I got it.   So I think I did ok.   How much better it would have
been, I don't know.   I always let it idle a while esp on cold mornings,
before I drove away.

    So, no thermostat is not imminent disaster.  Neither is bad rubber seals
in the engine compartment.   It all just adds up.   A friends has the 25th
edition of the idiot book, i read with interest the added sections in the
back.  Though not into hot rodding, I read the fat motor chapter and liked
it.   They also say thermostat - GOOD,  power pulley -  BAD.   Also added in
the back was the mention of brake hoses,   the old ones never did,   which
would have helped me.

But - collect the parts and when you need to pull the motor for clutch work
or new oil seals put it together. Or in your copious free time...