Well, back in town after 5 days.  The dealer has had the van since a week ago
Monday afternoon.  We had a rental '96 Plymouth Caravan (comments about that
in a moment) because we were headed out of town Friday and needed volumnous
transportation. 

Called the dealer a few maoments ago (8:30 AM), yes the van is ready.  I asked
if the fan belts had been tightented per my request.  Normally this is
something I'd do myself, but when I had the long block installed, the guy must
have used a cheater bar on the wrench to tighten the 3 bolts on the waterpump
pulley, because I have tried several times and can't loosen them a bit.  Well,
the mechanic was unavailable, no notation on the paperwork, so a delay until
noon while that is (re)attended to.  Needless to say, I'm not really pleased!

About the rental.  They arranged the rental of a '96 Plymouth Caravan ( the
cost of only part of which they are covering).  This is a brand new vehicle,
it had only 9 miles on it when we picked it up.  The engine (3 L V6) and
automatic tranny seem to be pretty smooth.  Starts and runs smoothly, no flat
spots or hesitation cold or warm.  Gets the van moving nicely, cruise on the
highway at 65 or so no sweat.  Very quiet power train, shifts are almost
imperceptable -  you really have to be listening and "feeling" for them. 
Noise inside is very quiet, mostly road/tire noise on rough road surfaces, and
a bit of minor wind "rushing" noise.  Guess I've been driving stick shifts too
long though, couldn't help but be aware of the "slip" through the transmission
when I went to accellerate.  I also find that the ride/handling is pretty much
what I consider typical of an American car, soft, isolated from road feel and
feedback, kind of "mushy" compared to the Vanagon or my older 5 series BMW.
The Vanagon handles and corners much more precisely with a lot less body roll
(considering we are talkng about a high center of gravity Box here).   Brenda,
my wife, said something to the effect "that's just you, you like bumpy ride -
you've  always complained about "mushy" cars".  I noticed LOTS of plastic
inside and out.  Not only interior panels and compartment doors and covers,
but also interior latches, exterior door handles.   Offhand, I'd say that
everything in sight inside is plastic of one type or another with the
exception of the seat frames and seatbelt buckles (male end).  IF they have
choosen the correct plastic, AND the plastic is treated with appropriate
UltraViolet radiation absorbers so that it will stand up to the sunlight over
time, then I guess that plastic is inexpensive, readily fabricated, and light
weight, all desirable properties.  The question I have (as one who tends to
own a vehicle "forever") is whether or not the vehicle will hold up over time.
 My major complaint is that the thing is TOO SMALL.  Because there were 8 of
us on this trip, we took 2 cars, the van and my car.  There was room in the
van behind the rearmost seat for a port-a-crib w/matress, 2 full sized
suitcases and half a dozen smaller items.  We stuffed disasembeled IV poles,
small baskets of toys for the kids, a case or two of formula, and some other
small items on the floor in front of the feet of the two little ones, under
seats, etc.  Everything else went into the trunk and rear seat of my sedan. 
This in comparison to the Vanagon, (that once brought a dishwasher home behind
the not folded down rear seat!) that on similar trips has carried everything
and everybody.  Now, if I could get the power of the Caravan and fuel economy
of the diesel into the van . . .   Actually, that's not fair, fuel economy of
the Caravan doesn't seem bad.  We didn't keep accurate records as I usually
try to,  but I was sent to fill the tank once and with about 300 -350 miles
since the last fill up, it took about 11.5 gal -- thats anywhere between 26 -
30 mpg.

Anyway, I'm back on the list and wishing all of you still similarly present
the best of everything - Happy Hoidays
Harvey