Date: Wed, 4 May 2011 16:23:58 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: 2.1 rebuild - new nuts for case halves
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I agree with TRS for the head gaskets.
for case halves I would use, and have used a lot, Permatex High Tack,
not foram-gasket.
I sure would not be putting any stainless fasteners on it.
they are not as strong ..
stainless is not titanium or 'fautless' like people want to think it is.
the orignal GERMAN ...real live GERMAN................... nuts that you
almost can't get anymore are perfect for the applcication .
It worked for decades ....no reason to change those or 'make something up'
about some other type of fastener material. I also put Permatex on the
threads of most of the fastener bolts..
like water pump nuts and bolts, the small case half nuts etc. ( maybe not
the bigger ones you want torqued exactly right though ) . I find permatex
works great to prevent corrosion and to help stick 'em on a little better
and they come off very nicely years later.
Teflon paste also has the same properties on threaded steel fasteners.
stainless is weird, ok ?
there are different kinds ..
but these are some of the properties that stainless steel has, generally
speaking, compared to oridary steel....................
you can weld it very nicely, but you can't cut it with a torch very well.
if you ever have to drill it, you need cobalt bits as it's much harder than
regular steel.
at the same time it is considerably weaker.
and when you get mixed types of metal you have another problem from having
disimiilar metals in contact.
lots of reasons to not use stainless steel.
Everyone please note - 'stainless steel is not the magic perfect metal'
.......
there are a lot of weird things bout it.
it's right in some applciations., but not everywhere. It is not 'magic never
is a problem metal ' ..
it's a weaker material with properties that are useful in some
applications, like say , sailboat hardware.
I don't think everything that VW does is perfectly brilliant ..far from it
sometimes..
but generally .....a major motto of mine for getting good results in vanagon
engine installations is ..
'do what the manufacturer did' ..
there are exceptions here and there, but ...
I'll say this...'when in doubt, don't make things up, and do what the
manufacturer did."
that generally works quite well.
If I saw the 13mm case half nuts replaced with stainless ones on a van I
just bought ..
I'd be worried about what other weird things they might have done on that
engine.
Do whatever you like ..it's your project ........but there is nothing
wrong with how VW put the case halves together ..
and in my opinion, not much better at all about stainless fasteners there.
That would be a step backwards.
scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Lambas" <twlambas@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2011 1:36 PM
Subject: 2.1 rebuild - new nuts for case halves
> Hi everyone, I'm finally putting my motor back together, and figured I'd
> use
> some new hardware.
> I am going to re-use the four internal water jacket nuts, but figured I'd
> replace the rest with stainless steel nuts
> and washers from a FLAPS or hardware store. These are m10x1.25 and
> m8x1.25
> right? The stud threads cleaned
> up nicely with a wire brush. Any comments or suggestions? I'll be taking
> Ben's advice on "The Right Stuff" for the head gaskets,
> and Permatex Form-A-Gasket for the case halves.
>
> Thanks, Tom
