First question: Can you get the bushings for the cooling flaps in the fan shroud?

Second question: can you replace them with the engine in the car?

I am not running the thermostat now as my bushing are totally shot and the flaps don't want to open. Better to have them always open then sometimes not open.

But, I'd like to get the thermostat functional for driving on cooler days. So I need to replace these bushings.

Zach

Looks like the drivers may be possible, but the passenger side I'm looking at is buired under the tin. Might be able to remove some screws in that area and pry the tin up.

yes you can do it with the engine in the car, don't "Pry" your tin..

Ok cowboy, pry may not have been the operative word. How bout LIFT GENTLY?

I prefer Gentle Prying..

I would just get a pair of used bushings, you can get a new thermostat off of samba for around $80-$90.. Best to take the tin off anyways so you can confirm the operation and the flaps are connected, especially the passenger side, which can come un-hooked..

Or you can just take the fan housing off...

If you want it open in the fail safe permenantly you can tuck the passengers side flap under the oil cooler tin just above the cooler itself.. some people do this in warmer climates ect..

I thought you have headers?

I do have headers. I am not talking about the flapper boxes for the cabin heating. I am talking about the flaps in the fan shroud that are hooked to the thermostat and control the warmup process for the motor.

Zach

I understand, but I don't think the bellow will work without the warm air guide sheetmetal on the stock exhaust.

Hrm, this is something that I have not heard before.

Is this the case? I thought the bellows was operated from nearness to heat in the oil pan.

Zach

PET figure 115-10 #6 021.119.187 bearing shell qty:2 has an "E" in front of the part number which I think means NLA. Quick look at pelican shows NLA. Busdepot says email for availability. Autohausaz shows no part listing.

I'm not sure I ever got a real answer on this. I do have mine still "in tact" but the cable adjusted full open. It's been very warm here the last week, so not sure I could really test it. I'll fart around with it and see if I do see any change before you spend money on a bellow if you like.

thanks!

bushigns are out of production last time i looked. get them used off an old bus or 14. they are pretty important to have. my understnading is someone tested and found the bellows come into operation even on warm days. they are constantly correcting for temp. they get a lot of heat from the air forced on them from the cooling system.

it would be wise to install the bellows, even if you live in Phenoix,and only drived on the hotest days of the year. the reason is even a 110F engine is still "cold" and you will suffer from increased wear and reduced mpg until the motor is fully wamed. if yoru taking only short trips or not driving hard, or the days are cool,the motor may not fully warm up with out the thermostat

would you run your toyota or ford, or honda with no thermostat to save $100? I doubt it, why do the same to your aircooled Porsche? really false economy in the long run. you NEED the thermostat. get that fixed now for best results!!

Sure Red, thats why I want to do it. But w/o the bushings I run the risk of my flaps never opening and me toasting an engine. I saw it happen with the engine out of the car, even after lubing them with grease to try and get them bushing and not sticking. That is enough for me not to trust them in the car.

I'll call AA tomorrow and see if I can't get a set from him.

Zach

My "new" engine core didn't come with the flappers at all. Parts Heaven sold me the flapper and bushings for $10.

Zach, don't know if you saw it on the other forum. I did a test, but it may not be 100% accurate, it's been 90+ here the last couple days. What looks like is going on is without the sheetmetal from the heat boxes, i'm getting outside air cooling the bellows. They opened normally at idle in the garage, and seemed ok more or less stop and go, but on the FWY my temp seemed a little higher than what it had been running. At 90 deg outside, doing 75 on the FWY, my car usually maintained less than 210. With the cable adjusted I was more like 225. I'm not sure the thermostat is as big of deal as some think it is, with multi viscosity oils now. Driving in winter may be completely a different story however. I can re-test late October again, but we will have nothing but sunshine and blue sky's until then.

You can get the passenger side tin off and access the rod that holds the air guide with the engine in the car. If you look on Club, I just spent the last few days dealing with that. It's not fun, but it's doable.

I did not see it. Thank you for posting it here. I have been (am still) on vacation and not checking things online nearly as often. This tells me that I am not going to be adding the bellows back in any time soon, since I can't use the warm air guides with my headers. I may put in on for the winter, but I don't do a lot of driving when its cooler then 50 due to my car not having heat.

Zach

I totally understand. Winter time i have to wear gloves if i drive it, and it usually only gets just below freezing here in the morning. And thats rare.

Here's the link over there: http://www.914club.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=214072

My issue was a little different, but I had to do the same things.

I'm not running the bellows, but I guess now I could =)

Pull the carbs and manifolds.
Pull the front tin off and forward.
Pull off the head tins.
Your in.

Rich