Looking for some advice. Pulled the 81 Vanagon Westie out of hibernation;
exahust system attachment points at right side heater exchangers (the three
of them) are as follows: 1) top bolt - nearly impossible to turn (clearance
problemns - any suggestions?) 2) bottom left (facing rear of van) the head
of the bold is sheared off (no, I didn't do it...honest) 3) bottom right-
bolt is missing.

What I've got here is an air-cooled; the catalyst disappeared long before I
purchased the vehicle. But the rest of the exhaust is in good shape - I know
it is less than 3 years old, and the van has been used only in summer, about
25K miles, almost exclusively at highway speeds. So not much inside muffler
rot should exist(?).

What I'd like to do is pull the whole darned exhaust off, clean up the
flanges, put new gaskets on (I'd need these - any suggestions?) put new
bolts on and button it back up again, after removing whats left of the
bolt(s?) and rethreading the holes in the exhaust.

So I need advice - how to get the exahust off, particularly the upper bolts,
where clearance is exceedingly tight for use with my hand-tools (open end
wrenches and socket stuff). I don't have a torch, but if it is the only way
to go, I suppose I could find someone to help.

Advice and comments are welcome! the notion of driving around with a couple
of vice-grips holding the exahust to the heater box is not an appealing option!
 
Private E-mail is fine for those looking to preserve bandwith

herman.40@osu.edu

THANKS!

Lon Herman