In a message dated 17/01/2007 1:36:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM writes: stainless steel bolts on your muffler/catalytic converter. The more experienced among us know this already. I thought I'd beat the corrosion problem by using M8 stainless bolts and nuts for my new Bus Depot cat and muffler. Once they heat up, there's no way to loosen them. I don't know what happens to the steel, but it sure isn't any labor saver. The heads just break of when you crank them. So much for good intentions.
Well, that is just not entirely true. I have been using stainless steel hardware on all exhaust systems here for over eight years now and this little problem you just experienced is rare. It's called galling, something stainless steel hardware likes to do. However, you will still always have perfectly sized heads of the nuts and bolts with which to put a good wrench on and be able to twist until they either loosen or break. This is not the case with mild steel hardware which eventually rusts away until there is no wrench in the world able to grab hold of it so your left to drill, chisel, torch, swear-a-lot, hammer, etc, until you get the connection loose. So.......you choose..........I did long ago ! Cheers, Frank Condelli Almonte, Ontario, Canada '87 Westy, '90 Carat, '87 Wolfsburg (Forsale) & Lionel Trains (_Collection for sale_ (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/trainsal.htm) ) Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa Valley _Frank Condelli & Associates_ (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/busindex.html) _Vanagon Stainless Steel Exhaust Systems_ (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/stebro.htm) _BusFusion_ (http://members.aol.com/BusFusion/bfhome.htm) a VW Camper camping event, Almonte, ON, June 07 ~ 10, 2007 |
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