I would like to thank everyone who sent me suggestions on my problem; I
really am flabbergasted at the sheer volume of knowledge and enthusiasm
found on this mailist.  I'm hooked now.

Anyway, I called the fellow who rebuilt my engine (in Calgary, Alberta,
very far away from Peterborough) and when I told my situation he
immediately said:  "It's the gas tank Marcus."  He works almost
exclusively on Vanagons (particularly watercooled) and Jetta/Golfs, and he
knows his stuff.  He has a yard FULL of w/c vanagons.  He said that when
he is parting them out, only one in every four vans has a tank worth
selling.  The rest are crap.

Sooo, I've had my nose buried in the Bentley Manual and the procedure for
dropping the gas tank looks straightforward enough:  Are there any
pitfalls or secrets I should know?

thanks in advance--

Marcus