just replaced
the water pump
the thermostat
the radiator cap

the radiator flows the way it should
no leaks, until it over heats and the pressure builds up

the heater blows hot while everything is ok, but as soon as the flow gets messed up, from what I was thinking was vapor lock, it stops blowing hot.

the fans are wired to a manual switch so i could rule out the bad temp switch.

you can fill it, run it. let it cool down, top it off, and drive it for 30-45 minutes without a problem. then the temp gauge will just raise and raise til it is pegged out. you get it parked, and pop the radiator cap and there is significantly less water, around 3/4 of a gallon. it takes just over 1.5 gallons to fill it.

I was thinking headgasket because when you let it idle with the cap off, it bubbles, as if it is boiling. you can touch the water and it is warm, but not boiling hot. Then it warms up and just spits water all over the place. I was thinking it was just air getting pushed through, but it doesn't ever seem to stop. As in, there isn't ever enough water to fill in all of the places bubbles are. I just wrote it off as VW's being a pain to bleed the air out and every time you take the cap off, it sprays some water out because of the change is pressure.