M16 drive shaft bolt tightness

[rhencullen1989]

Hi, I have just removed my driveshaft again (removed in march to replace wheel bearing) to replace the outer cv boot.On refitting and tightening the bolt to 200Newtons, it specifies another half a revolution I.e 180 degrees, I have a pretty good 17mm hex with half inch drive, but even with the brakes on and using a long breaker bar, the best I can get is approx 135 to 140 degrees. Is this ok? It's bloody tight and yes I did use a new bolt supplied in the genuine cv boot kit.

[Rob69]

I'd say it's reached yield point after 140 degrees and tight enough, I've had same trouble on a crankshaft damper and pulley bolt, almost ripping the engine out the car trying to get the full angle.

[FrenchAudi]

I had the same problem. It's probably due to different specs/manufacture of bolts from different sources. I used the longest breaker bar I had, a piece of 1 1/2" square steel, which was bending noticeably, but got nowhere near 180º.

I reckoned I was well past the yield point and left them at that. That was well over 2 years ago and nothing fell off yet

[rhencullen1989]

Thanks, is that your NSU R080?

[FrenchAudi]

Thanks, is that your NSU R080?

Yes, at least it was, but sadly I sold it 2 years ago. It now belongs to a collector in Japan.

I owned it since 1984, and rebuilt it with a Hurley tuned Mazda13B engine in 2002. This gave it about 175 HP, according to Eamon Hurley, so with an extra 60 HP it kept up with modern cars pretty well. The petrol consumption, with twin SU carburettors, was, surprisingly, better then with the original engine, being around 11 litres per 100 km (26 mpg) instead of 14 (20 mpg).

I used it occasionally, but was nervous about parking when away from home, and decided to sell it before things started to wear out again, as parts were increasingly hard to find, Hurley had gone out of business, and I like to use cars, not keep them to look at. I bought the Audi with part of the proceeds and put the rest in the bank. I'm still a couple of grand ahead after nearly 3 years, and get 9 litres per 100 km (30 mpg).

[rhencullen1989]

My brother has an Ro80 he inherited from my dad, it's had a full engine rebuild by Eamon I believe and has had a full respiratory, it looks new. My dad had in in the late 70's it was not used much and always kept in a garage or under shelter. I will try to post up some pictures sometime.

[FrenchAudi]

Trouble is, if an old car like that is not used it gradually deteriorates; things like moisture absorbed by the the brake fluid and condensation in the petrol tank, and a whole list of other stuff, eventually take their toll. This includes the build quality of the time, when cars were not really designed to resist long term corrosion.
I had all the doors rebuilt in Spain in the 1990's, before a complete strip, prime and repaint of the body. The outer panels below the windows had rotted away because the trim pieces were fastened to the outer skin with hardened steel claws, which cut through the paint and started the rusting process. After welding in repair metal and repainting was completed, I refitted the trim strips with bits of thin plastic pipe and contact cement. Not quite as secure, but I didn't start wrecking the paint job all over again.
Cars in the 1960's and 70's were just not built to last as long as they are today. The pity is that so much fatuous electronic decoration has been added to modern cars that you are guaranteed to need to spend a pile of money to sort out the idiot lights and warnings which regularly appear