> >  My friendly VW dealer will gladly perform these services for about $650.
> >  That's just out of the question.  Sadly, I'm wondering what my options are

As I've said many many times, both rebuild kits are available for 
around $30 each, and with care and fair condition cylinders 
rebuliding is a great soultion.  Otherwise, Kyle at VW MotoSports, 
Bus Boys or any number of people can provide both cylinders under 
$150 new, and changing out both is a trivial (under 1.5 hours with 
luck and bleeding) procedure.  The biggest potential problems are 
getting the hydraulic line off the slave, getting the truely 
annoyingly positioned mounting bolts on and off the slave, and 
keeping the amount of fluid you spill all over the interior when 
removing the master to a minimum (pump it all out the slave bleed 
then surround the pedal area with an old towel before pulling the 
resevoir pipe off the back)  If you pump it too dry, you may need a 
MityVac ($20 WALMART) to get the darn new master to prime if there is 
a big air bubble (likely) in the line, that is the reason Bentley 
says pressure bleed only.  A MityVac and standard brake bleeding 
techniques will be more than sufficient though.
So total on the outside $170 and 2 hours work, maybe only $75 and 3 
hours if you rebuild.  Change your brake fluid out entirely while 
you're at it, Castrol GT/LMA DOT4 (WALMART) a great choice and change 
the rear wheel cylinders out (Varga $14 anywhere) as the brake system 
is likely bad as well but maybe not as brakes get bled, clutches 
never are.

John
vwbus@netbiz.net