What have you done to your wagon lately? (Let's keep the thread going!)

Yeah, I hated those darned bolts. It is not a weight-saver, it was Audi's way of making their cars different from other cars. I broke a 17mm allen wrench once, trying to break one of those loose.

 

Did you try heating up the bolt or using an impact? I'm thinking, they might have used some of that blue glue.
I'm worried about wrecking my breaker bar, more then anything. Replacing it with anything other than Made in Parts Unknown junk will cut into my budget which has been already plundered, through getting this car through inspection. I might just take it in somewhere, to get it loosened. Once that's done, I'm over the mountain, as they say over here

 

No, actually, it was a hex key, and I had my breaker bar and a 17 socket on the free end, then (here comes the good part) I lowered the car until the handle of the breaker bar sat on the ground, got it all lined up, and lowered the car further. It began to lift the right front of the car, then the key shattered at the elbow. I still have a couple leg scars, I think.

 

We ended up sending it to the dealer to break it loose, and in thinking about what you said, I can't remember if it had blue threadlock, because the new axle shaft had a new bolt, and it had yellow threadlock.

 

Yeah, okay. So, it's likely that threadlock was applied. I'll try heating it up with a propane torch. My acetyline one is overseas, if still there. Propane should deliver enough heat, in order to neutralize the glue.
Was the relacement bolt also of an internal hex type?

 

Yeah, it was. No guarantee one that you get will also be one, but I've seen only one aftermarket with a hex bolt head, likely a 17mm.

 

Still working to complete the headliner in my Custom Nomaro Wagon. Until then along with my Grandsons, we have enjoyed several cruise nights in our area. The car seems to draw a lot of attention and recently received a top pick at one of the cruises.

 

Here's the deal: I went to a local shop, in order to book an appointment for having the bolt loosened. The shop owner told me that those are stretchbolts, metalurgically similarly alloyed like headbolts. According to him, 17 mm hex patterns aren't the only ones used. A few others like Torx and other internal grip ones are or were, as in my case, used. He told me, because they stretch, they are tightened to 200 something (I didn't listen closely enough) to about 300 newton meters torque which I can imagine is in the neighborhood of how tight the rear axle nuts on an old Beetle are fastened. That they glued the bolt on the one you were servicing seems odd, as if because of lacking the special tool for tightening and removing it, the shop decided instead to glue it in place. You could do that over there, because your turnpikes have speed limits and at comparitively low speeds, the brakes shouldn't get warm enough for de-activating the glue's properties. But, I'd always have it on the back of my mind, when I glued something which really wasn't meant to get glued and then the next mechanic points it out or maybe an insurance adjuster notices it, after an accident. Even, if it wasn't the cause. They have all kinds of laws favoring insurance companies, over here, since they have powerfull lobbies. One of which allows alcohol tests for the drivers of victim vehicles of accidents, as well, even if the victim was abiding fully by the law. I suppose, the reason behind that would be that if the victim was consuming excessive amounts of alcohol, he wouldn't have been at the scene getting involved in that particular collision in the first place.
Here's another one: Despite being a driver who obeys the law or drives just over the required minimum speed, that driver pays identicle insurance premiums like the one who drives more dangerously, just because his particulat vehicle can reach the vehicle's top speed. Not that it absolutely has to be driven to such. Luckilly, adjustments are made for accident-free years and less miles driven. But, the flat rate still remains.
If you want me to explain what happens after a collision, when the owner had the engine tweeked without having the modifications added into the title or has had illegal modifications done, I'll be more than happy to get into detail about that

 

Nah, that's OK. I'm sure I can suss that out. And 300 N-m is 222 lb-ft, so that sounds about right. Then it'd be my guess, someone else had worked on the car and reused the bolt, but slipped some threadlock on it before reassembly.

 

I had to send a car to a tire shop because I thought the lugs had been over torqued. I ran off three wheels with the impact gun and on the last one, none would budge. To top it off they kept stripping. I probably stripped three out of five then stopped. I had an extra set of lugs and went to the tire shop N-T-B I believe. They charged $0 and replaced all five. Extremely great full I drove home and continued on the job at hand. I forget what I was doing but I went to take the wheel off and the same thing starts happening. Stripping the lugs and not turning anything. Frustrated I ripped the socket off the gun. Revealing the issue. I was using those wheel sockets with the plastic cover that protects wheels from scratches and didn’t realize the socket had cracked now my issue is tracking down a Cornwell dealer to give me another one

 

D'oh! I thought you were going to say, someone had installed left-hand thread lugs (yes, they existed, like on your Poncho project) and the guys at the tire shop neglected to say anything.

 

Typical tire shop humor, it's

 

Anyone seen the board stretcher?!

 

Have you seen the annoying customer spindler, yet?
There's an add in a local weekly paper advertising a 1969 Renault 16 barn find. It doesen't have inspection certification. But, if it looks alright, I'm going after it, if I get the price for my wagon of which I intend on getting. Some here would debate it being a wagon or not. I'd say it's quite close. But, still a four-door hatchback, methinks. He initially wants 1.900€. It's worth it, if it has little to no rust and low milage. I sent the Jerk two smss and he still won't answer. As a rule, I don't give anyone a third strike. But, in this case, I don't wan't to pass it up, if it's a TX:




My uncle bough a TS new, in 1975, which was a notch less in rank and it was a great car for long trips. He, my mom and us kids vacationed for about a week, in it.
Here's a later one getting restored. It has a cross-flow head, like those Renault Fuegos they used to sell, back in the late 70s which means most modern updates are possible, such as fuel-injection conversions

http://prevot-r16-monteton.e-monsite.com/pages/restauration-tx-bleu-ocean-430.html

 

I got it loosened, yesterday afternoon. The shop owner showed me what he used, to get it loose. He had one of those black, specially-hardened 3/4 to half inch adapters on a corresponding breaker bar with that allen in a socket tool similar to mine. He didn't want any money. But, I slipped him a 5€ bill, just the same. If I had brought it to a dealer, they might have refused doing it, because of liability excuses or have at least charged me a quarter hour's time for less than a minute's effort. I'm tearing into it, this morning, and hope to have the part before the weekend