Stainless Steel Exhaust hardware Late Bay

[BUSBOSS]

I am trying to source all of the exhaust hardware n stainless from the bottom of the exhaust manifolds to the muffler in a late bay (1976).

Can anyone confirm this preliminary list for me and advise what if anything additional I may need?


- 12 M8x25mm for elbows (afterburners as they are sometimes called)
- 6 M8x25mm for mounting cross-over tube or extractor to heat exchangers
- 1 M8x28mm, 1 M8x18mm to mount Y pipe to crossover pipe
- 3 Mx25mm to mount y-pipe to extension pipe or cat
- 3 M8x15mm to mount tailpipe to muffler
- 2 unknown (from EGR to Y pipe)

I will also need 2 X washers and 1X nuts for these as well. Should I use copper nuts or stainless?

Thanks in advance!
_________________
All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood
1976 Westfalia
1970 Karmann Ghia Convertible (sold - but not forgotten)

[SGKent]

some stainless is much softer than hardened steel. As a result it galls, strips, or snaps easier. Copper nuts and anti-seize on hardened steel do about a good a job as possible as long as a little penetrating oil is put on them before removing them. Many of the nuts and bolts in the late 75-78 exhaust are not studs but rather bolt and nut.

Read up on stainless here: https://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-information/materials-and-grades/materials.aspx
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[vwwestyman]

Seems like a good enough spot to throw this tip out there.

If you're prepping to remove probably-stuck nuts/bolts, I recommend before you even start, heat it up good with a propane torch and touch it with some wax. I have a block of paraffin wax I bought years ago (was sold for canning) that I still have.

I also hit it with PB Blaster alternating with the wax. If I'm really nervous about one, I'll alternate heat-wax-heat-PB Blaster-heat-wax and so on for several cycles.

The wax will work its way into the threads and loosen them and help lubricate them.

It isn't foolproof, but I have had great success.
_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[WhirledTraveller]

The prevailing wisdom is that stainless fasteners don't hold torque well in an exhaust application, leading to re tightening, over tightening, galling, snapping.

High quality steel and copper hardware will rust, but will hold torque and will last a pretty long time before it gets really bad. If you are using original mild steel exhaust components the fasteners degrade at about the same rate, so by the time the fasteners are too far gone probably so is the rest of your exhaust.
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1977 Westy, Automatic. Big Valve heads, CS Cam.

[otiswesty]

I agree with the posts above. Stainless is a soft metal and the bolts will stretch resulting in exhaust leaks. I replaced my Vanagon exhaust years ago with all stainless including the hardware. Within a year or two, I had to replace all of the bolts due to stretching and resultant exhaust leaks. Some were rattling loose in the flanges. Even though they were loose, they were so badly galled that they would not easily come apart and many needed to be cut off.

I would recommend hardened steel bolts, copper coated/plated with deformed thread lock nuts and install with copper anti seize paste.
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1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1989 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[mikedjames]

And as well as galling, the stainless stuff will end up going purple then brown anyway with the heat.
So it does not look much better than mild steel after a while..
_________________
Ancient vehicles and vessels

1974 VW T2 : Devon Eurovette camper with 1641 DP T1 engine, Progressive carb, full flow oil cooler, EDIS crank timed ignition.
Engine 1: 40k miles (rocker shaft clip fell off), Engine 2: 30k miles (rebuild, dropped valve). Engine 3: a JK Preservation Parts "new" engine, aluminium case: 26k miles: new top end.
Gearbox rebuild 2021 by Bears.

1979 Westerly GK24 24 foot racer/cruiser yacht Forethought of Gosport.
1973 wooden Pacer sailing dinghy

[BUSBOSS]

Ok. I am now convinced to abandon stainless for steel and copper. Thanks for the advice.

[airschooled]

[BUSBOSS]

[BUSBOSS]

Anyone know the size of the two bolts connecting the EGR tube to the y pipe on the left side of this photo?

Thanks!
_________________
All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood
1976 Westfalia
1970 Karmann Ghia Convertible (sold - but not forgotten)

[airschooled]

M6 bolts; sorry I couldn't find the length written down. They're like 8¢ at the hardware store. Grab a few from M6x10 through M6x30 and you'll be set for a few other things as well. Part of owning a vintage car is having a small kit of nuts and bolts handy all the time. I think I spent about $20 at the hardware store three years ago and it has saved me more than a dozen times. The gas to get to the store is like $5, so the fourth time you go grab a faster they will have paid for themselves.

Your particular EGR fitting doesn't require long bolts, but with a muffler/EGR filter mismatch, you may have to use long bolts to get it started and "draw" them closer together, then swap them one at a time for short bolts to finish the job.

I just want to clarify, that I'm not giving you an answer here, not because I want to be a dick or make a point, but because I genuinely think the best thing to do in this case is to have a few spare fasteners ready to go at all times. Ask Brian about that time I had to dismantle his glovebox to fix his distributor on the side of the road because we didn't have any spare nuts...

My kit I keep on board for VWs is something like:
distributor points screws
M6 nuts, washers, and bolts 10mm-40mm
M8 nuts, washers, and bolts 12mm-40mm
M10 nuts, washers, and bolts 20mm-50mm
M12x105mm bolt (for rear shocks. I've seen a few go missing.) 2 nuts, 2 washers.
A few fender washers of the above sizes
A dozen sheet metal screws of various sizes
Maybe a dozen tin screws
A few of every kind of spade connector / ring terminal
Zip ties
Fuses

All of this fits in a tony trout tackle box. You know the clear ones that are like three bucks at the hardware store?

Good luck,
Robbie
_________________
Learn how your vintage VW works. And why it doesn't!
One-on-one tech help for your Volkswagen:
www.airschooled.com

[SGKent]

[BUSBOSS]

[SGKent]

[quote="BUSBOSS] I would never assume someone was being purposefully rude. [/quote]

it is appreciated by this soul.
_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[BUSBOSS]