Too lazy to look

Boy....You don't want much, do ya?

The nuts are 11mm and the pitch (I think) is 1.50.  But you're relying on information from a 63-year-old guy who barely survived the '60's.

If I were YOU, I would pull a nut and take it along.

Don't forget to get stainless nuts.

Yawn... Huh? wha????

Oh, I just woke from my nap.  Guess I'll have to get dirty tomorrow.  Sigh.   Zzzzzzzzz........

IIrc the intake manifold studs are 8mm x1.25 pitch. Normally on VW's the socket size is 13mm, but for manifolds try to find some 12 or even 11mm; the smaller socket size gives more clearance. Al

While Lane was napping . Finished painting all four Fuchs and had a nice conversation with Cory about a windshield.

and a pic.

Sorry Guys, can't upload anything at the moment. The utility must be napping.

Yup, Al's right about the size.  I went to the 11mm nuts for exactly that reason - better clearance to get a socket on them.  In fact, I got an 11mm swivel (universal) socket at Sears that seems to do a pretty good job of getting to them and getting them tight.  Not absolutely necessary, but kinda handy.

Thanks guys.  I'm not really as lazy as I sound.  The weather is so nice this weekend that I want to drive the Speedster, but I can't do that if I have one of the nuts off.  It's just too pretty to take the cover off the BMW (well, maybe there's the lazy part) and drive it when the Speedster's running so nicely.

Anybody know where to find 11 mm (or 12 mm) stainless steel nuts for 8 mm studs with 1.25 pitch threads?  Somehow I don't think my local Ace hardware is gonna have 'em.

A number of Samba advertisers have them- Berg, Aircooled.net, Pierside parts (maybe). Your local industial supply house, if they don't specialize in hardware, should know who does. You could even trip down to the local Nissan or Toyota place and ask the parts guy what they have. Actually, any import place would be a good place to start...Al 

Good old McMaster-Carr....On line catalog, all major credit cards accepted, no minimum order, and reasonable shipping costs and times...

Best nuts for the job-- click here.

Stan.  You are rarely wrong, but you are in this case.

Here are the best nuts for the job:

Those look good Stan, but what about the nyloc stuff Gordon recommends.  Won't these come loose periodically?  Or should some Loctite be used?

If those are what I think they are, They have a slightly deformed top thread that acts as a locking device....  These are usually considered a "one time" item, and have been known to occasionally be rough on the threaded object they are used upon...  

Unbelievably, my local ACE has stainless steel 1.25 pitch nuts for 8mm studs with nyloc inserts.  That place isn't big, but seems to have a little bit f everything.

Wouldn't the copper exhaust nuts be better?  Stainless steel nuts seem to gall when attached to stock steel studs (and even stainless bolts).  Tad costly -

http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDe...Code=VWC-175-129-650

I've tried most of the options. In my experience, the heads get too hot for the nylon in nylocks. The nuts I put up don't have the top thread peened over as a lock, but I suppose you could do that if you wanted. The advantage to them is that they have a built-in washer, and a tiny head. My big-beef intakes are welded, and there isn't much space for a socket. There is with these nuts. I can tighten them regularly.

Well it turns out the nylocs won't work anyway as they are 13mm on the outside - too big to get a socket on.  Guess I'll order some of Stan's suggestion.

Lane, I use 11mm steel nuts I got from some VW supplier, can't remember who. CB or aircooled.net maybe. Anyway, I backed them up with some heavy steel washers, which I had to grind a bit and make D-shaped to fit. I put loctite on the studs and with a very hard(non-compressible) gasket haven't had to touch them in 4 or 5 years. I think Gordon has even deleted the gasket and just uses a light coat of silicone. No leaks, no loosening.

Don't really have a problem now, but I obviously did earlier.  When I get the right nuts (insert funny comment here) I want to do this once and ONLY once as it is a PITA!  Currently have what look like exhaust nuts that exactly fit a 7/16" wrench, and I can probably just make them work with some Loctite.  Which color - green or red?  Hope to have it done before Carlisle, but not an absolute necessity. 

Don't use the red Loctite. I would suggest blue (I think 242 is the #) but red Loctite is the high strength stuff that makes removing them in the future very difficult and you may actually end up pulling the studs out with the nut.

Bleagh!  Don't want that.  Blue it is.

If you have "Green" loctite, its fermented and makes a great way to keep the top on your beer bottle.....Say What???   

Fuzzy memory.  I blame the cold meds I've been on.  Oh, and society - always blame society.

El señor Piperato escribés: "I think Gordon has even deleted the gasket and just uses a light coat of silicone. No leaks, no loosening."

Au contrare, mes amí...."Big Jake" told me to use Locktite 410 'flange sealant', not silicon.  Once I faced the intake manifolds to super-flat (sanded the intake flange with sand paper on a piece of glass) and assumed that the head flange was flat already (yeah, I know that's a great leap of faith, but I had a spell of weakness that week) everything went together nicely and no leaks.

We're professionals here at "Five Cent Racing".  Don't try this at home.......

Oh, and BTW:  Fancy-schmancy self-locking nuts really aren't necessary.  All you need are flat washers on the bottom (because the manifolds are made of aluminium)...next, a lock washer and then a regular (slim profile for clearance) nut.  Tighten that puppy down and walk away from the car.  Should hold almost fo'evah.

They call those 11 mm nuts "space savers".

Gordon has it right again.... If the studs aren't long enough, double nut them and back them out...Replacements should be available at ACE hardware or McMaster for sure.

Well, I got the no gasket part right, forgot what product you used, El Gordo. Now I remember that Mr. Jowdy(maybe?) uses some sort of hi-temp RTV. I seem to be having CRS moments more and more, and I am not old enough to join the AARP yet!

Us fellow members of the AARP can make exceptions for you'se with Early Onset 

Alzhiemer's, ya know.......

I used Locktite 510 Flange Sealant, as recommended by Jake.  Quite pricey stuff, but it works, as long as you polish at least the manifold flange to absolutely flat so that the gap is minimized and the sealant can do it's job.  For that I used 600-1,200 grit sandpapers flat on a piece of glass and carefully sanded the manifold flange until there was no waviness or distortions in the reflected light - then I felt it was flat.  I also looked at the head surface but there were no significant marks from the milling tool when the flange surfaces were machined so I opted to take the chance that they were OK.

BTW:  I did this because after my heads were ported, the port openings were egg-shaped and the metal between them was less than 1/8" so it kept sucking the gasket out in that small space.  The answer was to eliminate the gasket, polish the flange surface flat and run the locktite flange sealant.  I brushed the sealant on for a very thin film and put everything together using 11mm (wrench size) nuts with flat and lockwashers.  Those have been OK for several years, now.  Don't know if I'll have to use Dynamite if I ever want to get them apart.........

The existing gaskets are very thin, and have a skin of sealer on them.  I may reuse and add some Loctite 510 and call it a day.  I've reached out to the folks who make the nuts Stan recommends, but have yet to hear back.

Hmmmmmm.........as a personal rule of thumb, I NEVER re-use gaskets on any part of the intake system below the throttle plates.  About the only one I ever re-use is the carb top cover gasket (they usually let go easily and there is no vacuum working on them).  

When I was a kid and had no money, I would re-use intake gaskets but always found that I later had to replace them anyway because they leaked and made the engine run crummy.  Forewarned is fore-armed.

BTW a 6 oz tube of Locktite 510 was something like $60 bucks.........

"BTW a 6 oz tube of Locktite 510 was something like $60 bucks........."

ZOUND$$$!!!!  That's some pricey stuff!