John Connolly and Scott Daniel Foss have both referred to the 12 point as
being the best. I have 24 of these, not yet installed, and will get 24 more
for the front of my Syncro, the longer one's needed for that. I am making
the change so I don't get caught in an emergency and have a roadside
stripping contest or stuck out of town with a mechanic not familiar with
these.
I got mine through Scott and don't know where he got them. John can help it
sounds like, if you want the 12 point. The tool comes with the bolts (3/8"
drive socket). Well worth the investment of time and $$.
Just my $0.02

Bob Stevens
'87 Syncro Westy
http://groups.msn.com/BobsPhotoShare

----Original Message Follows----
From: Damon Campbell <damoncampbellvw@YAHOO.COM>
Reply-To: Damon Campbell <damoncampbellvw@YAHOO.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: cv joint bolts?
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 16:24:07 -0700

Howdy, Bill,

I'm pretty conscious about dirt filling up heads of
bolts and sharp allen wrenches.  My buddy and i both
looked at those bolts and came to the same shallow
head conclusion (not the original bolts, though - ones
that a sketchy shop in whitehorse, yukon, canada, used
when my tranny was replaced 20k ago...).  I even
ground down a couple allen wrenches to get a super
sharp bite to them and no dice.  Clean and shallow.

This was my first work on CV joints (except for some
12-points on a karmann ghia), so i wasn't sure if this
was standard for them.

Repeating an earlier question, is there a preferred
bolt for CV joints, or will any ol' allen head do?

Thanks,
-damon

--- Bill Marshall <Willolyn99@AOL.COM> wrote:
 > Hey Damon,
 >
 > First question is:  did you clean out the bolt heads
 > before you removed them?
 >
 > The first time I took mine off, the allen wrench
 > spun around on the edge of
 > the head and I ended up using vice grips, etc.  When
 > I looked at the bolts more
 > closely, I discovered they were full of grime,
 > grease, and dirt -- packed in
 > hard and mostly filling the head.  They prevented
 > the allen wrench from fully
 > seating in the head.
 >
 > If you spray some solvent or WD-40 into the head and
 > then clean them out with
 > a nail or small screwdriver, you will be able to
 > seat your allen wrench
 > fully.  I also give the allen wrench a few taps to
 > make sure.  No need to swap
 > bolts, just keep them clean!
 >
 > Lastly, make sure your allen wrench (I use a
 > socket-type with a ratchet) is
 > in good condition, too.  You may have damaged it
 > along with the bolts, take a
 > look at it.
 >
 > Best of luck,
 >
 > Bill Marshall
 > 85 GL Tiico "Pandora's Box"
 > Aurora, IL

=====
'84 Westy (Sparky)
'65 Kharma Ghia (Dharma)

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