Well, finally got my oil temp sender in - luckily on the 2L engines they
fit right into the drain plug - no need to drill a hole in the plate.
15 minute test ride showed that with head temp @ 500F my oil temp was
barely over 210F. So I guess that's good. I wish the gauge had a mark at 225F
or something - but 230F is straight up  on it so I guess that's easy enough
to see. (Maybe I'll put some red dots on each gauge so the passenger can
warn me in case I'm too busy driving to notice.)

I finally got around to putting some new tires on this van. There seems to be
a  real shortage of tires in the recommended sizes capable of carrying
these loads. I ended up with Dunlop 185/75R14 with a load range D rating.
These are for light truck and commercial applications. I think they were called
'LT5's. Pressure is 55lbs in back, 40lbs in front.
Boy, does this thing ride better! Plus, my arm is no longer sore from the
old tire pulling so hard! The stiffer sidewalls do tend to make it follow
the crown of the road a little bit. But the ride stability, and the cornering
has really improved.

Now for another question: while I was routing the wiring to the temp
sender I discovered that the pipe connecting my left heat exchanger to the
fan shroud is missing. (Bentley calls it "warm air connector" pipe.)
I have no idea how long its been missing.
I'm not sure if this is going to affect engine cooling or not. It *appears*
as if it just directs air from the fan over the exhaust manifold to heat it
up for passenger compartment use  So there could be some danger of getting
CO into the passenger compartment perhaps,if I were just sitting around
with the engine idling. Luckily I've had the heater closed off for awhile
now I guess!
Muir makes some passing reference to
these things providing engine cooling as well, which I suppose they would do
some of if you think of the exhaust manifold as a heat sink.

Looking at a Bus Stop catalog, I can see a part labeled "Hose. Fresh Air
Heater, L/R, 60x530mm (17/18/2000cc)" @ US$3.75.
Anyone know if this is the missing piece, or does this attach to the other
end of the heat exchanger? (Sorry Joel, I still don't have a fiche reader -
although maybe they have one at the library!)
Are there any other requirements for such a piece - the existing on the
right is metal, but the one in the catalog I'm looking at doesn't seem expensive
enough to be! Is this a FLAPS (or at least a Midas) item?

soon, it'll be ready.
-rick

Rick Gordon
Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
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