I reckon there's nothing more pitiful than watching a grown man cry over a
broken toy.  That's why I'm glad my wife and daughter aren't home right now.
I just managed to snap one of the head studs on my waterboxer while trying
to torque the cap nuts.  Turns out I misread the instructions in Bentley.
37 Nm, NOT 37 ft/lbs for the second torque sequence...

I don't suppose there's any way to r & r the broken stud with the engine in
the car, is there?  The stud that broke is the #1 stud according to the
torque sequence - one of the inner stud in the top row.  It broke off about
two inches from the end - just a bit further back in than the top of the
cylinder barrel.  And I was so proud that I had managed to remove the heads
without disturbing the barrels, now I've got to pull at least one to get to
the #*$#@^ stud.

Second question - can I re-use the new head gasket I was putting in?  I was
doing the job myself in the first place because of money, not the
irreplaceable joy of working on the car myself.

You know, you'd think the Vanagon would be all grateful to me for buying it
a nice Paulchen rack to get the bikes out of the back.  Fickle beast.

Randy, Carla & Anna Huyck, Olympia, WA
'75 Rustfalia
'85 Vanagon GL
'90 Fox GL
'74 Super Beetle