Hello John, i had a stud break on my 87 Vanagon GL passenger van several
yeaars ago.  The cylinder head stud broke as the van was being driven down
the road.  I found the way it broke somewhat unusual but nontheless i found
myself with the same problem as you are now facing.  No amount of
penetrating oil and vise grip used was successful in removing.  Much like
yours i had about 1" or so of stud above the top of the outer cylinder
jacket to work with.  What finally worked was a propane torch and a tool
called a stud extractor (this tool grips the stud by way of teeth and works
off of a 1/2 inch rachet - as you use your rachet to undo your stud -
counterclockwise - the extractor grips the stud tighter in its teeth).  I
applied heat at the block (yes, barrel removed, don't over heat you don't
want to warp anything) where the stud screwed into the block, set up the
stud extractor with a 3 ft extension on the rachet.  It was either going to
come out or break.  There was a fairly audible crack (metal to metal) but
the darn thing finally let loose and came out intact w/o breaking.  By the
way this work was done with the engine in the van, rear wheels elevated from
the ground about 10" or so.  I, much like you felt that i was in over my
head but i was wrong !!  Just keep cool, don't panic, study the problem and
things will eventually work themselves out.  Good luck.  Hope this helps.

Claudio Cella
87 Vanagon GL 7 passenger
90 Jetta TD

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Morris" <jmorris1@CAROLINA.RR.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, May 13, 2002 6:28 AM
Subject: Head gasket job getting out of hand

> Hi all,pulled the engine in my 85 Westy to replace head gaskets this
> weekend. Things were going great on the driver side, barrels weren't
stuck,
> head sealing surface was pitted but reparable with JB Weld. Replaced the
> water pump, t-stat and clutch and it all was going so smoothly, I should
> have known that disaster was lurking on the other side of the case.
>
> On the passenger side, two of the head studs (both top middle ones)
snapped
> when I began to loosen the nuts. One of the studs looks long enough to
> remove without much trouble, the other snapped leaving only about an inch
of
> stud showing.  Is it possible to remove the piston pins without the use of
> the VW special tool? And what methods would you employ to remove the
> offending studs from the case? I'm assuming an EZ-out is the logical
choice,
> no? Any ideas or info from those that have been down this road before
would
> be greatly appreciated.
>
> Getting in over my head !
>
> John Morris
> '85 Westy
> "If he speaks in the woods but she is not there to hear him, is he still
> wrong?"