Now that hurt.....

[syncropaddy]

068-145-800-B Turbo Bolt
068-145-800-C Turbo Bolt

bought two of each for 60 Euro ...................

[HarryMann]

Yup I know, £13 each

Bought a whole turbo-charger for £50 last year, looked reconned but what pleased me as much was the 4 bolts that came with it

I actually bought some equivalents a couple of years ago, as a back up.. About 50p each

[syncropaddy]

When you say equivalents, do you mean they were Chinese lookalikes or the real thing?

I reckon these things are made from something special - a high temp alloy I suppose

[Simon Baxter]

Normal M10 bolts also do the same job without issues.

[syncropaddy]

I thought about that but there must be a reason VW use those bolts

[Ye Olde Syncrospares]

yes to get £12 profit from every bolt sale.

[Simon Baxter]

yes to get £12 profit from every bolt sale.

And when they get stuck they make a right mess of the turbo too!
I think they have a daft tensile strength but I've often used normal M10 bolts without issues, obviously it's nice to have the right thing but that isn't always possible.
With all the AAZ conversions I do, I do tend to get a few left over, but they are always the longer ones.

[HarryMann]

I reckon these things are made from something special - a high temp alloy I suppose

Yeh paddy, I reckon so too, to match the Ni-Cr-Mo manifod and turbo housing spec steel

I bought 12.9 spec hex cap heads, two slightly different sorts - as it happens, haven't had to use them yet, still got the odd one or two of the VW part.

I put a very thin smear of copper slip on the threads, not under the head, and use about 44 N-m from memory (maybe 35 ft-lbs) No problem so far.
As Simon knows, the actual manifold to head studs I've not tightened-in enough in the past, the flange nuts for those are a bit special too, as well as the thick washers to allow the manifold to move along the head as it heats and cools.
Lets remember, this whole area can be as good as glowing red hot under prolonged full-boost. Trust VW!

[syncropaddy]

I have a wee tube of copper slip here somewhere which I intend to use JIC

[andysimpson]

i have used 12.9 hex cap heads on all mine and if i don't break them they are upto the job, cost virtually nothing.

I also use 12.9 hex cap heads for the head bolts as had lots of problems with the standard vw bolts, stretching/coming loose.

[Simon Baxter]

Don't know if you know, but the syncro JX manifold is different to 2WD ones as it has a lot more webbing added.
They do seem a lot more robust and less prone to warping, but they still do warp.
I think VW must have realised the exhaust manifold was only just up to the job on 2WD and made them bigger for syncro seeing as they are under more load and run hotter.
Almost every one I have done recent'y has been warped, usually at the turbo end, that port (#4) is normally about a mm below the rest.
I have to keep 2 in roation, machined up ready on the shelf.

[HarryMann]

Yup, you can see the effect here, with 4 well low & 1a bit low when initially flatted on a surface plate: