Cooling question

[LMR]

I am looking for some advice. My understanding is the thermostat bellows that operate the flap in the fan housing are NLA. Has anyone come up with an alternative?

For those of you who have done engine rebuilds, has anyone left out the flap?

[Carl2]

You need the flaps to direct the air! IIRC a beetle thermostat fits with a bit of modifying.

[Michael Hafen]

The 914 Wheeler Dealer episode deals specifically with this so you can see what to do.

Regards

Michael

[defianty]

You can get them from here.
http://awesomepowdercoat.com/thermostat ... built.html

I remember the Wheeler Dealer episode too, I can't remember exactly what Ed did, whether he bought a replacement or modified one.

[Bruce M]

Beetle one opens at a different temp, although is better than nothing.

[LMR]

Thanks for all of the responses. I will go off and have a look at the Wheeler Dealers episode.

Bruce, what is the correct temp to operate?

[Porky Scratchings]

Very interested to see where this thread goes, my 2.0 (on Webers) started to miss-fire on a couple of occasions last summer, couldn't work out what was going on, tried changing the plugs and re-setting the carbs but it didn't always act up. Oil temperature gauge was reading normally but the penny eventually dropped that the common ground was length of journey and ambient air temperature. If it wasn't a particularly hot day and I was on a clear run all seemed fine.

Like most I had read that thermostats are fail-safe, i.e. fail open, but mine had failed closed hence the miss-fire. I have tried the normal sources for a replacement but no luck so far.

Thought I had the Wheeler Dealer episode recorded but must have deleted at some time so any advise gratefully received.

Cheers guys,

[Michael Hafen]

Try YouTube.

Regards

Michael

[Philw]

In my youth when I was running tuned beetle engines I was told that leaving the flaps open all the time was fine if the thermostat was playing up, in that in our moderate climate there was no real problem with cooling air all the time. Not sure if it was correct but I ran a coupLe of engines like this with no ill effects and no concerns over whether the thermostat would open and allow cooling..... obviously better to have everything working as designed but may be worth considering if there are problems?

[Bruce M]

Good primer on the topic


http://www.ratwell.com/technical/Thermostats.html