In a message dated 2/25/02 10:02:58 AM, jayotte@DESTEFANOARCHITECTS.COM
writes:

<< and does anybody

have a reasonable solution to my stuck plug? >>

Jamie,

Always something new and nasty with these Vanagons, eh?  The first time I
ever saw a carbon whisker from the inner to outer electrode of a spark plug
was recently in my van.  I had heard of such things many moons ago, but I
never imagined seeing it outside of a picture in a book.  It made the van run
like a real pig.  With that I have that off my chest, on to your problem.

What you have here is essentially a fastener with a captive washer.
Unfortunately, the captive washer is your engine.  In times of dire need, I
have been able to remove captive washers from fasteners.  It takes a great
deal of thrust to do it, but it can be done.  Although the threads in your
engine case are stripped, the root of the thread remains.  Forget about the
Vise-Grips, you have to come up with a way to put a lot of thrust in the
outward direction on the drain plug while you are turning it.  While doing
this, the drain plug thread will find the start of what remains of the thread
in the case tapping and reluctantly come out.

Now, how can you pull hard and twist?  If you can find someone who is SURE
(real sure!) and quick with a stick welder, you might be able to tack on a
T-handle in the form of a shallow V made from some small diameter (5/16?)
round bar stock.  Or, you might drill and tap the center of the drain plug
(5/16-18? Seems good) and attach a screw eye with a jam nut (jammed really
hard).  Slip a bar through the eye and pull and twist.

Of course, removing the floating drain plug is only the first step in the
repair.

Rich