FWIW,

I replaced the muffler and muffler brackets on my Syncro this past
weekend. It was a pretty easy job once I had all of the parts I
needed to complete it.

I started off by ordering a new muffler and gaskets, It was not
until I had removed the muffler that I noticed that the brackets
were both broken:(

The local VW dealer took my order on Monday and I picked them up
on Wednesday (US$53 each:( ) just in time to start work on
Thanksgiving Day.

Reinstallation was pretty straight forward. There is an interesting
connector upstream from the cat that makes adjusting the plumbing
easier. It is similar to a universal joint in that it allows the
exhaust pipe to be rotated around for adjustment.

I mounted the brackets looseley, then I set the muffler up on them.
I moved the muffler back and forth a few times while playing with
the adjustable plumbing bit and found what I thought was a good
alignment.

I tightened the straps that hold the muffler to the brackets and
then tightened the brackets. In the process of doing this my good
alignment got less good so I loosened things up and fiddled around
a bit.

After several iterations of tightening and loosening I acheived what
I think was a very good alignment. I tightened up all of the nuts and
then double checked them all. My test drive indicated success and the
next day I went on a 200 mile trip and all was well.

John-Reed Maffeo '86 Syncro - Glacie
Mesa, AZ