I'm working on my car, which had one broken front stud when I started - but now has 3... 2 in the front and one in the back. I'm not done removing the rear studs one is being a rear pain, I'm thinking that it will break too.

I guess the question is, how bad is it to remove the heads? I need to put a timing belt on it anyway, so most of that is coming apart eventually.

I've got the FSM, and it looks easy. I'm just not sure how many gotcha's there are that the FSM doesn't mention.

Tips, comments, flames? Anybody have a 5spd donor car since this is a major rebuild?

Good luck! I was thinking of doing mine myself but didnt feel confident enough that I could get in there and have the right tools to extract the broken studs. You dont have to pull the heads to do the timing belt but if you pulled the engine then I'd do it all while its out. Much more room.
Good luck, hope someone can give you better advice.

I know I can get the broken studs out. Its just an issue of getting access to them to do the work.

I know what you mean! Some folks have pulled theres to get to it. Im not sure how the stealer did mine but I am pretty sure they didnt pull it.

I'm thinking that about pulling the whole engine. I've got the timingbelt/water pump stuff (seals......) to do, along with finishing the rest of the injectors.

If you can visualize and understnad exactly what the FSM is telling you to do in-order to pull the heads, that means mechanically you understand the procedure and it shouldn't be a problem for "you" Even though I've never pulled a VG heads, there were no surprises when I pulled my VE heads using the FSM. No gotcha's as you call it. Also you can rest assure if you're pulling the exhaust manifolds to change broken studs you will (or might) snap a couple studs in the process. I knew I had two broken studs when I pulled my heads, by the time both heads were on the workbench there were 3 more freshly broken studs. It's just a part of the game.