Hello all,
'81 Vanagon Westy, air-cooled.

Well, get this:  Today I broke the thermostat flaps return spring.  You
know, the little spring that's wound around the shaft that connects the
two flaps (the ones that the thermostat opens/closes).

the spring has (had) a little arm that projects out and lodges under a
projection in the fan housing so that the flaps fail-safe, i.e. they
spring back to the open position.  Well, I broke this little arm off so
now the spring is toast and the flaps are not in fail-safe mode.  I do
currenlty have them wired open, so I'm not gonna be frying the engine
but the repair prospects don't look good.

Am I correct in assuming that the spring cannot be removed from the
shaft without removing the flaps from the fan housing?  Am I also
correct in assuming that you can't get to those flaps with the engine in
the car?  If it can be done with the engine in the car, does anyone have
a spare spring they want to send me?   

I really dislike driving around without a functioning thermostat,
especially in the winter.  

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Sean