Stuart,

You wrote:
 <<.... I looked under the chassis under the passenger  seat and
 found a 21/2 to 3 inch cardboard pipe which extends  about 5
 inches from the body but isn't connected to anything.  As I  cannot
 find anything nearby for it to hook up to  could it be a vent of  some
 sort to vent battery gas? What is its  purpose and can I plug it  or
 find out where it supossed to connect  to? Help me if you can. >>

   You're correct.  It's there to vent gas from the battery box.
 There's no other connection, it's just open to atmosphere.
 Prolly not a good Idea to plug it.

A lot of the heat you'll feel coming from the floor of the
driver/passenger compartment is conducted from the radiator.
I've had good luck with  3/8 thick insulation padding that I got
 from JC Witless and  placed under the carpeting,  with some
of the leftover material glued  underneath the van in the space
behind the radiator underneath  the spare tire.

George
'89 Westy, "Wernher"
109K miles & counting