Hold on now. On each waterboxer head one exhaust port has studs and the
other end has steel bolts that thread into the alloy head, just like the
shop said. When replacing the header pipes it is quite easy to cross
thread those bolts if someone has not already done so. You can't use
studs in all locations because the exhaust CAN'T be removed that way.
Since the 2 ports on each head face 180 degrees from each other and the
dual header is one piece on each side you need to slide the bolted on
end over some before you can lift the other end off it's studs.

Mark

John Rodgers wrote:
>
> Thats BOGUS!!! ?Even in a worst case scenario a nut cracker can be used
> to remove a nut without backing out a stud. You should always use new
> nuts anyway. A lot of shops want to flat-rate you by "the book" That way
> they can charge a book price, yet they can do the job in half the time.
> So you get to pay full job labor price for 1/2 the labor effort
> expended. If they can't do it that way, they simply don't want to
> bother. There are variety of nut cracker/nut removal tools out there.
> Any real shop will have one and know how to use it effectively and
> efficiently. I would definitely look elsewhere.
>
> My $0.02.
>
> John Rodgers
> 88 GL Driver
>
> C. Chris Snyder wrote:
>
> >---I need to have the exaust system (pipes) replaced on my '87 Vanagon however, I can not find ANY exaust shop where I live that will take on the job. They state that Volkswagon uses steel bolts in an alinuim head and that the bolts always break and then the heads have to be taken off and the bolt drilled out etc.
> >
> >