I developed a crack in the exhaust pipe that is between the collection
manifold and the catalytic converter on my '84.  An earlier crack in a
different location had taught me to check the support truss, and sure enough
there was a break in the truss as well.  This van has 148k miles so I'm
economizing.  My local dealer in Seattle, (Campbell-Nelson VW/Saab for you
PNW types) has a good used part operation and I bought a replacement from them.

I have rarely ever worked on a portion of a car with poorer access to bolt
heads and nuts.  I used end wrenches, sockets (w and w/o universals), box
wrenches, and adjustable wrenches.  Corrosion made the metric tools not fit
so I used principally 1/2" and 7/16" wrenches although a 12 mm socket seemed
to fit.  After a 2 hour wrestling match (I lost) I got the pipe off and the
replacement back on and tight.  I also did and angle iron repair of the
broken support truss.

Next I fired up the van only to hear and then feel an exhaust leak around
the repair.  Ultimate bummer: the replacement pipe had cracked in a somewhat
different location, so the whole job has to be done over again.  Lessons
learned:
1.  Used exhaust pipes are brittle from being hot.
2.  It's worth it to replace all old nuts and bolt on this type repair.
3.  Jack stands are worth every penny (I don't have any, yet).

Charles Vaughan
'84 Vanagon GL (a little louder than usual)
Woodinville, WA