Holy grail item

[72Hardtop]

In need of a working T-4 thermostat...I'm sure there are some around somewhere [-o<

[sped372]

It might be easier to find a time machine to go back and get some.

[bajaman72]

Somebody on TS is rebuilding them now. Cost is about $100.

[tristessa]

I might have one still, but it'll be awhile until I can check -- it'd be in Portland and I'm in Helsinki right now.

Need to know before the 25th?

[SlowLane]

Somebody on TS is rebuilding them now. Cost is about $100.

Would that be this guy?
I contacted him a few months back. He didn't have any Type 4 thermostats in stock at the time. Maybe he has some now.

[bajaman72]

Somebody on TS is rebuilding them now. Cost is about $100.

Would that be this guy?
I contacted him a few months back. He didn't have any Type 4 thermostats in stock at the time. Maybe he has some now.

Nope... Found it..This guy

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... id=1036746

[bajaman72]

It appears to be the same guy

[SlowLane]

Cool. I see he last updated his Samba ad back in March 2013, so that means he may have some in stock.

Think I'll hit him up for a new t-stat myself.

[bajaman72]

Seen this one this morning.. Not a bad deal shipped.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... id=1465320

[SlowLane]

Seen this one this morning.. Not a bad deal shipped.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... id=1465320

Um, yeah, except the pictures with that ad show a thermostat for a carburated type 1...

[72Hardtop]

I did order one from this guy http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... id=1036746 on May 10th.

Still waiting...

[SlowLane]

I also ordered one from him on May 15. When I asked how long, he said 3 or 4 weeks, as he had just "sent the fittings to his assembly guy".

Not too worried yet...

[SlowLane]

I also ordered one from him on May 15. When I asked how long, he said 3 or 4 weeks, as he had just "sent the fittings to his assembly guy".

Update: just received an email from Clark (the t-stat vendor) that mine has been shipped. Should receive it next Tuesday. Will report on first impressions.

[SlowLane]

Received my new thermostat from volkaholic (Mr. Awesome Powdercoat) yesterday. First impressions are very positive. This thing is quite pretty. Whatever company he is farming out the assembly to has clearly invested in some modern welding/brazing gear. It's a step above the old style of soldered plates used by Wahler

Although the thermostat itself is quite nice, there are a couple of attachment issues that will need to be taken care of. The bar stock that was used for the cable nut is ever-so-slightly larger than the stock cable nut, and it turns out that the pilot hole in the thermostat bracket for the cable nut is quite a close fit to the original nut. So tight that the new nut won't fit. Nothing that some judicious filing can't remedy.

So why not use the stock nut from the old thermostat? Well, acccording to volkaholic, it seems that VW used at least three thread sizes for the thermostat cable attachment: M7x.7, M7x1 and M6x1, Volkaholic has settled on the M7x1 thread size, but my old thermostat has the M7x.7 thread, so I'm stuck with the new oversized nut.

Another fitment issue is the depth of the thread bore on the thermostat mounting hole. The old Wahler thermostat has nearly an inch of thread in the bore, but the Awesome thermostat has less than half that. The depth of the bore is about 5/8", but the amount of thread engagement is only about 3/8". I think a little work with a bottoming tap will be needed to get a reasonable amount of thread engagement.

Aside from those little details, I'm tickled pink about this new thermostat. And on inspection of my old one, I think I can actually fix it as per Ratwell's thermostat repair instructions.

It's been a good day.

And, umm, how would I go about attaching more than one picture to a post?

[72Hardtop]

I also received my new thermostat as well. I fitted a new cable which required no modding. The only adjustment I had to make was to place the washer that normally goes between the bracket and thermostat on the outside of the bracket between the mounting bolt & bracket. This way the thermostat would have enough travel in it to allow the flaps to open fully.

After haven installed it and run the bus I can say the thermostat works flawlessly. With a correctly functioning thermostat it will open with what may seem late but keep in mind it's heating up mainly from the flow of hot air down onto the thermostat itself. IOW, if you were to just install it and turn the bus on and let it idle your not likely to see the thermostat open fully. You need to initially run the engine and confirm the T-stat starts to expand (once cable has been adjusted with cold engine). At this point take it for a short drive. It'll need to be good and warm before it hits full open.

I can see on a cool/cold day that the T-stat may take awhile if ever to hit full open. This is normal as I recall when my old one was functioning properly.