Luckily the repair was pretty easy. I used a 1/2" bit to drill out the damaged threads then taped the threads to clean them up. The stock bolt is barely long enough to get a good hold of the threads to begin with. After I drilled out a couple of them the bolt wouldn't even contact the threads. I figured I'd have to wait until I got a longer bolt from vw or next week, but I stumbled across the exact bolt I needed in my parts box. It is about 10 mm longer than stock and grips on lots more threads than the stock bolt.
I went almost to 90 ft lb but didn't want to take a chance so it may be 80 or so at the moment. The car wants to pull toward the right under power so I have to check the alignment and perhaps get some new stiffer control arm bushings. It really feels like I have to wrestle the car around corners with the peloquin but I didn't expect it to be so evident. Also now that my transmission is no longer leaking I can tell oil is coming from the distributor area against the head. My gasket set didn't have the proper size new oring so that must not be sealing well. One day I'll solve all these little things I hope. The 16v was a really reliable car for many years for me even when I was taking it to track events a coupe times a year. Hope to get it back in that kind of shape. Happy Thanksgiving! On Monday, November 21, 2011, Chad Rebuck <[email protected]> wrote: > thanks for the offer but I just ordered the standard m12 x 1.5 bolt > from the dealer since it was relatively inexpensive. The car can > continue to sit a while longer :) > > The more I've been reading about this while working today, the more I > think I'd be better off cutting a hole and welding a new nut in there > if there is room. This is the repair I see for the subframe mounts, > but I don't see many instances of problems with the front control arm > mount. Everyone is posting about the rear control arm mount. I don't > want to enlarge the part of the frame that the front a arm bolt rests > against since it is sized for the bolt so there is no slop. The > helicoil tap is going to be a bit larger than 12mm so this would mean > that the front frame hole (at the bolt head end) would end up being > too big. > > Maybe I could drill/tap for a larger size bolt and drill out the > control arm bushing slightly to make room for the larger bolt? > > what a pain either way. > > > On Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 4:50 PM, darner <[email protected]> wrote: >> I just took a look; sadly, the largest metric size I have on hand is M10 x >> 1.25. And as close as the 1/2-13 is, it won't help you a bit . . . >> Otherwise I'd have mailed it to you on loan. Maybe someone else has the >> M12 x 1.5? >> >> On 11/21/2011 11:34 AM, Chad Rebuck wrote: >>> >>> correct, its a kit including everything you need to repair the threads >>> >>> On Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 12:06 PM, darner<[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>> That's the kit price, right? Several Helicoils, a tap, and an >>>> installation >>>> tool in a pouch? >>>> >>>> On 11/21/2011 10:53 AM, Chad Rebuck wrote: >>>>> >>>>> New bolt, $7 >>>>> m12 x 1.5 helicoil, $30 >>>>> >>>>> I hope this does it. >>>>> >>>>> On Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 11:18 AM, Matthew Yip<[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Silly man - easy and Volkswagen ownership are mutually exclusive... >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>> ________________________________ >>>>>>> From: Chad Rebuck<[email protected]> >>>>>>> To: Volkswagen a2 16v discussion list<[email protected]> >>>>>>> Sent: Monday, November 21, 2011 11:03 AM >>>>>>> Subject: Re: [a2-16v-list] front control arm bolt thread repair >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I saw that proceedure for the subframe support thread repair. So the >>>>>>> front control arm could be done in the same manner? At least there >>>>>>> are multiple options. I hope the nut/threads are still solid enough >>>>>>> for the front to accept the helicoil since that will be easiest. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Nov 21, 2011, at 10:30 AM, Anthony Pelletier<[email protected]> >>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> The fix I have seen was to cut a small access hole and get a nut in >>>>>>>> there then tack weld it in place. Not the most fun project while im >>>>>>>> the car, but it works well. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>>> a2-16v-list mailing list >>>>>>>> [email protected] >>>>>>>> http://mail.a2-16v.com/mailman/listinfo/a2-16v-list >>>>>>> >>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>> a2-16v-list mailing list >>>>>>> [email protected] >>>>>>> http://mail.a2-16v.com/mailman/listinfo/a2-16v-list >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> a2-16v-list mailing list >>>>>> [email protected] >>>>>> http://mail.a2-16v.com/mailman/listinfo/a2-16v-list >>>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> a2-16v-list mailing list >>>>> _______________________________________________ a2-16v-list mailing list [email protected] http://mail.a2-16v.com/mailman/listinfo/a2-16v-list
