An update on my clutch lever for the archives, as there were several things
I learned from the list, and in this process that might help others.

PB blaster and propane heat were futile. Next, I used my neighbor's
propane+oxy torch to get it glowing red, then used a puller - that did the
trick. But then we measured the end and the shaft, and found it was too
mushroomed to come off without grinding the end. At that point I noticed
the clutch forks were in bad shape - one side worn about 1/8" more than
the other. So I then cut the shaft just inside of the lever, so I could slide the
lever off the splines just before they taper out.

Thanks to Mark Drillock for pointing out that the diesel lever is different, or
I would have likely just cut the lever itself! I was then able to get swap the
fork shaft, and bushings from my wbx trans, and use the diesel lever on my
diesel 5 speed. Another thing I learned is to be careful with the plastic
sleeve, as the plastic bushing inside it can turn, so that the holes for the set
screw/bolt don't line up, resulting in the sleeve getting mangled, which
appears to be what toasted the old one.

For those curious about what a worn shift fork looks like, and the
difference between the diesel and gas levers, I've put some pics here,
bottom of the page:

http://members.shaw.ca/vwdiesels/TD_Conversion/page2/page2.html

Thanks for all the help!

Shawn Wright
http://zuiko.sls.bc.ca/~swright
'85 Jetta D
'88 Westy 2.1L, soon to be 1.6TD 5 speed
 (see progress at http://members.shaw.ca/vwdiesels)
'82 Diesel Westy