85 Vanagon thermostat

[Nkschndr]

I've been talked into replacing a thermostat on a 1985 VW Vanagon in a somewhat
remote location. Anyone out there who knows what tools I should be bringing with
me? I'm an eight year Volvo technician so hopefully I'm not a complete mechanical idiot, however, I've never done much of anything with VW's.

Also, the reason I'm doing it is that the guy complained that his van boiled over after he shut it off (after driving in 107 degree heat). He was running straight water in his cooling system, he said his electric fan was running, and he claims that while it was running, it showed no signs of overheating. I told him a t-stat and some actual coolant in the appropriate mixture would be a good start. Does that sound like sense to you v-dub guys?

Thanks a lot.

Nick