Golf_crazy

Hi 
 
I was in a similar situation a couple of years back. Most people were actually removing the main pump under the car and installing a high flow uprated in tank pump which apparently works well. But like you I didn't want to do that if you search online there are some direct replacement pumps (Bosch 044 I believe)  but depends what fuel pump (mk2 model) you started out with. I started out with an 8V digifant before I did my VR6 conversion and found that a company in the US did a nice upgrade link below. Don't know if they still do it also when I purchased it pound was a lot stronger so made sense. 
 
https://store.034motorsport.com/blog/fuel-pump-install-mk2-volkswagen-high-output-kit/
 
Hope this helps. 

Well to answer your second question not quite easy to take apart you need to remove quite a few hoses as the geniuses at VW didn't realise you can't actually undo the thermostat housing without taking a lot of stuff off first. 
 
You can have a look at the following write ups they help: 
 
https://sites.google.com/site/stoyneff/engine-general/vr6-thermostat-housing-and-crack-pipe-replacement
 
Http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?2385488#/topics/2385488?_k=qjgisg
 
Be very careful when you remove the thermostat housing as you might accidentally break the plastic coolant pipe (called a crack pipe) you will see what I mean from the above links.