In regards to the cylinder head exhaust studs - instead of trying to remove
the seized nut why not spit the nut with a nut splitting tool or a hammer
and chisel.  Once removed use a small wire brush (toothbrush size) to clean
up the threads and new nut when re-installing exhaust.  It will be tight but
if i recall correctly it can be done.

Claudio Cella

87  Vanagon GL  7 passenger
90  Jetta TD
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Cotsford" <Cotsford@AOL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Sunday, September 08, 2002 4:24 PM
Subject: Re: How hard is it to remove exhaust?

> Hi ,  Thanks for your reply.
>
> Its sounds like I am guaranteed to have some stripped threads ?
>
> Are the fasteners not going to break off rather than strip out ?   On
other
> vehicles, I have had to deal with that.
>
> Is there a really really good brand of penetrating oil?
>
> At the moment I am planning to just remove the front crossover pipe and
> therefore dealing with only half the fasteners.
>
> I may try Midas to see if they can weld up the crack and put it off a
little
> longer.
>
> Cheers,    Steve
>