Thermostat etc

[Robert H]

So--Hopefully not a controversial topic... I have a 65 bug with a 1600 DP GEX engine (I know, "boat anchor" but is has worked well for a while now). The engine was in the car when I bought it, and had all afermarket sheet metal, (most parts had a "made in Tiawan" sticker) including a "36 hp" shape fan shroud, and no thermostat or air-doors. Full cold air all the time. A few weeks ago I took the engine out for the purpose of adding thermostat, air doors, etc. I found an OG fan shroud, all the air-doors and associated linkage, cylinder covers, and a few other pieces of sheet metal, and OG thermostat and bracket. The block is a VW brazil, and did not have a hole for the thermostat bracket. I drilled and tapped the block, and went back together with a factory-style cooling system. I also went back with OG intake manifold and oil-bath air filter. It is like driving a different car. It now warms up in a few minutes instead of 15, or never on a really cold day, and the heater starts working in a few minutes as well. I am glad I did this upgrade, and my advice and personal opinion is that the air cooled VW engine should have the factory style engine temperature control system. I know you can get it to work without, especially where the weather never turns cold, but IMO the themostat and realated hardware makes a significant difference in a positive direction.

[Hokie87]

[anthracitedub]

I agree...t stats and all the tins are the way to go.

[tasb]

Technically since removing the T stat parts was an upgrade years ago aren't you downgrading?
_________________
Roads Scholar &
1957 Kombi low mileage 36 hp governor equipped M 178 Slow Drag Winner 2014, 2015, 2018

1965 hardtop Deluxe Microbus owned since 1990 M 620 factory 12 v 1500cc

1961 (October)Single Cab- Road Trip Workhorse

[Robert H]

Ha! perhaps so. Re-grading? Retro-grading? What is the opposite of modifying? Installing Antimods...

[67jason]

all my engines have thermostats and factory OG tin, including my 2180 daily driver.
_________________
67 bug x3
67 ghia
64 bug

[gt1953]

Yep on the factory sheetmetal, thermostat flaps. My heater kicks out heat in short order. Plus no white goo inside that oil cap.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[Zundfolge1432]

Just think of all the money VW wasted installing these useless things
The last two expert repair shops here saved these for me. They are gone and I'm still here. Oh the stories they used to tell about how a stuck thermostat could ruin an engine.

[Max Welton]

[Tim Donahoe]

This is especially so if you buy a used bellows thermostat off the Classifieds. Make sure the thermostat is not stuck in the expanded position. I just saw two ads where the bellows was filling the thermostat bracket (no room to expand). So, they were shot and a total rip-off to those who don't know what a working bellows thermostat looks like.

Has anyone any first-hand knowledge of an OEM bellows thermostat actually failing in the closed (compressed) position? From what I've heard, they always fail in the open (therefore, flaps fully open) position. So I was just wondering who has had theirs fail in the un-compressed position (which would keep the flaps closed and cook the motor).

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[Zundfolge1432]

[Zundfolge1432]

[Tim Donahoe]

Zund,

I hear you, and agree why mechanics threw the thermostat away. Pure laziness.

I bought a complete thermostat set-up from the classifieds and had a hell of a time with it until a Samba member told me the right-hand flap bracket should be "a popcicle's width" away from the flap. Mine was much more. Probably because the last guy to remove the right flap just grabbed the shroud and yanked, instead of carefully coaxing the rod--with the flap attached--up and off the engine. And bending that bracket back--once it's been stretched--is a joke.

I got a new set and installed it by first tilting the fan shroud on the right, feeding the rod through the cylinder head (in the first hole nearest the center of the engine) then twisting the fan shroud a little for the bent rod to clear the hole, then tilting the left side of the fan shroud down and over the oil cooler.

Not an easy task when you're alone, but now I have a working thermostat system.

In the summer, I remove the thermostat entirely. We get many, many 100+ degree days during summer, so I figure my thermostat will last longer from removing it during these few months.

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[KTPhil]

[Tim Donahoe]

KT--there are times in the hot summers here where the temperature reaches to 116 degrees Fahrenheit. They don't call us Red-Hot-Redding for nothing. So, during these times my engine warms up by the time I reach the first stop sign.

I figure that our thermostats wear--from use. So why wear out a part faster when I don't have to. It takes me five minutes in June to remove the thermostat, and five minutes in early September to re-install and re-adjust it. That equals a 25% non-use of that part.

If I lived in a more temperate--like in the mountains or far north, I'd keep the thermostat going all year.

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[mukluk]

[wcfvw69]

I live in Phoenix and have the thermostats/flaps and all the associated parts hooked up on all my VW's. I also don't see any benefit in removing the thermostat during the summer.

The one thing that also happens when reinstalling these parts is the cold engine drivability is night and day over an engine w/out these parts. If people are running a stock motor with a single carb, clear carb manifold preheat pipes and a stock muffler, it's simply amazing how well they run when you start them first thing in the morning. Hit the key, the engine fines off and you can immediately drive down the street w/no cold engine symptoms.
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[Harris]

[KTPhil]

The debate has raged in several threads.

My short answers are that it helped my '71 FI Fastback, even though I live in warm SoCal. Earlier heat, faster warmups, better cold idle for the first 10-15 minutes are my benefits.

I also understood that mechanics took them out just to be on the safe side and avoid customer suspicions, however misplaced, that they did something wrong to the engine should it later overheat. The slow death from poor combustion will be far down the road, after the warranty, and so they make the decision to avoid the argument.

[gt1953]

Maybe someone will drill down into the VW engineers perspective on the thermostat. I will guarantee that the water cooled vehicles have thermostats. The flaps do direct the air flow where needed even without the thermostat.
I did have a thermostat fail on one of my engines. Not a problem thanks to the Samba classifieds.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})