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Subject:Re: Shear Bolts/Steering column
From:David Beierl
Date:Mon, 9 Aug 1999 10:47:43 -0400

At 09:42 8/9/99 -0400, Scott Curtis wrote:
>I'm in the process of removing the dash from my '90 Westy to clean the
>ventilation system due to mice infestation,  what is the best way to remove
>the shear bolts from the steering column?  The repair manual says to drill
>out?

ViseGrips or equivalent often work.  I think the shear-bolt concept was
invented before ViseGrips made it to Germany <g>.

When you're replacing them, if you don't think the enhanced theft
protection and nuisance value is worth $15 for the pair of bolts, regular
M8x1.25 bolts will do quite nicely (in case you're not clear on this, the
"shear" feature refers to the heads shearing off when you tighten
them.  This makes them difficult to remove and hence harder to steal the
van by dismantling the ignition lock --  nothing to do with safety at all).

david
David Beierl - dbeierl@ibm.net