================= Begin forwarded message =================

    From: mitch@geomag.gly.fsu.edu (Mitch Covington)
    To: jarnott@ednet1.osl.or.gov
    Subject: Re: Thermostats
    Date: Thu, 09 Nov

    
    Jim Arnott writes:
    
    <<snip..  As Charles (Boss) Kettering said, "Parts left out cost nothing
    and have an infinite service life."  If it wasn't necessary,
    VW wouldn't have put it there.  Over the  life of the program,
    no thermostat and associated hardware would have saved millions
    of DM.  .. snip>>
    
    But one thing to consider here...  You can't manufacture one engine for 
    this climate, another for that climate.  You must create one engine that 
    will work in all climates, because you don't know where the car will end 
    up.  You must provide for the worst of conditions in the factory.
    
    I admit to be among the most ignorant of shade tree mechanics, and 
    realize that the thermostat SHOULD be there, wherever you live.  But the 
    issue in my case, and maybe others, is that in my ignorance i put the 
    engine in the bus without one.  I'm thinking Law of Diminishing Returns 
    here.  Is the reduction of engine life here in the warm climate of 
    Florida going to be significant enough to warrant the time, trouble, and 
    expense of pulling the engine again, buying all of the proper thermostat 
    hardware, and figuring out how to install it?  Remember, it wasn't there 
    to begin with, so even a cloudy idea of how it should look isn't in the 
    noggin.  Can I compensate somehow, like keep it garaged in the winter, 
    until I need to pull it for another reason?
    
    Sorry if I seem beligerent, but I _really_ don't want to pull this mother 
    out for a while!
    
    Thank for any past and future input. We learn the hard way...:-|
    
    Mitch
    
    ******************************
    *  Mitch Covington           * 
    *  Micropaleontologist       *      
    *  Tallahassee, FL           *
    *                            *
    *  mitch@geomag.gly.fsu.edu  *
    *  bugware@aol.com           * 
    *                            *
    *  '71 bus, '71 camper       *
    ******************************
    
    
    
    
    

--
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+ "Parts left out cost nothing and have an infinite service life."      +
+                                                       Chas. Kettering +
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