Anyone want to guess or actually divulge knowledge on how much heat the
inner CV boot on a manual tranny van could take?

  I am having some custom pipes bent for the exhaust on my "new" 2.0 liter
Jetta motor in my 84 van.  The Inline Tuners tell me that about 30" is the
correct length for the primary 'runners' on the dual downpipe manifold that
is the best one for the ABA motor..30" and then you merge the two into one
and on to the cat and muffler.  I am thinking in order to get that length in
a Vanagon installation I shall turn the pipes forward...run them along the
driver's side of the motor then cross  under the nose of the tranny and
return along the passenger side..

  In order to preserve full ground clearance, I am thinking I might go just
below the CV joints...I shall probably have to make some type of heat shield
to keep the boots from being too hot...especially when stopped with the
motor going...Right?

  My alternate plan is to simply make the downpipes as long as I can get to
fit, configured like my current system....guessing I can put about 24-29"
inchers in there,  doing it like my single down pipe current exhaust....But
that will mean some power I don't get from having the  full optimum length.
  It should still be a significantly better breathing system than the tiny
single pipe that is sharply bent and crudely welded that I am running so
far....

 The tuners (Techtonic Tuning in Or.) tell me they dyno  out ABA motors,
with just this one exhaust change, and see them usually gaining 10-12hp..I'd
like that, for just the cost of a nice fall drive to Bend to the exhaust
shop and some fab time $ using all the parts I have and the manifold that
came with my $300 motor...

  Don Hanson