Hi Joolz,

Try an automotive specialist, several brands use M9 bolts in the weirdest places. I believe Fiat uses M9 bolts as cilinderhead bolts, if those are to long, you can probably shorten them. there must be more applications for that!

can't you get rid of the bushings underneath the head of your bolts? that might save you 10 mm or so?!

greetzzzzzzzzzz

Rusty

could you tap the output flanges to the easier to find M10 and use cap screws at 12:9

or are you using adaptor plates? again adapt to the bolts you can get. If yes are they forcing the driveshaft too be too short at full compression which could also be the torque locking, SAAB used tri-ax rollers in a housing the 2cv joint on the outer end was the same as the 2cv if memory serves right

Why can't you just shorten the bolts? Are they not threaded on the full length?
By the way if you decide to tap a larger size thread, use M10x1. The standard M10x1,5 thread requires a 8,5 mm hole.

I have asked the engine shop to look out for something suitable, but that was before I decided that they were responsible for the gaiter trouble, so I'll go back with more determination sometime. It's the same guy that I got the M11 bolts for the flywheel from, so I'm hopeful he'll find something.

If there was an easy answer to this, I'd like to think I'd have found it. As you can see in the pic the bolt's not got much thread on it, and the shank is too narrow to cut any more. Oddly the thick section under the head is part of the bolt, and even the thick washer is needed to make it tighten up. These washers are another problem, they keep cracking, they're original to the bolts and luckily I've got a complete second set as they come with the LNA gearbox.



I'd thought about drilling the flanges out to M10, but I'm not keen on that idea, and I haven't yet checked if there'd be enough room for the head.

use Hex or Torc then!!

That's what I was going to use, I still wasn't sure there would be much room... I just went and measured them. An M10 socket head is 16mm dia, and looking at the pic from the previous page again, the thick washer is 17mm and the flange under the head is 19mm. I'd have to go and measure the clearance on the car but I think the head would touch the gaiter. Whether by enough to cause an issue I'm not sure yet.

Holding the M9 and M10 next to each other it really didn't look like a big deal, especially as I could use an M10 fine with the same pitch as the M9. But then then again, as well as drilling and re-tapping the flanges, drilling the spacers, drilling the discs and drilling the driveshafts, it would then mean I had to drill out the holes in any replacement driveshaft that I needed to fit. This could be a bit of a problem if I broke one away from home, I don't want the car to be so full of modified parts that I have to carry a spare of everything with me, because I know I can't get one off the shelf.

Ahum....... which engine do you use????

Shat itself indeed! I once shat myself in France, on the autoroute, but it was christmas and I had eaten way to many oysters and spent the day snowboarding, I simply tried to fart, but was to zealous, ended up drawing mud...

I taped my LNA output flanges out to m10 and used Hex heads, but it was a pain in the ass drilling out the drive shafts and adaptors/spacers, some holes didn't quiet line up...

The other option is to use the M9 bolts from the front housing of the GS/LNA gearboxes, there are an assortment of sizes, otherwise buy a bunch of alternator bolts and cut the thread longer.

Harley

Lpgo, I know my car is full of non standard parts, what I was trying to say is that I don't mind using parts from different sources, as long as I can buy replacements when I need to. I don't want to be in a situation where if I break something I am stuck until I can make a new part.


All those use a bigger hex head, the hex heads on the bolts in there only work because they're a tiny 12mm AF.