VW Bolts
by Brian Verbeek
>I need one more bolt for the rear bumper
mount
>of a late bay.
>
>Anything unusual about these? Can I go to Home
>Depot and buy anything that's similar?
I have some new ones for my '73 single cab, i'll describe them here, I bought them at the local VW dealer, The bolt is VW part# N 010 253 7, and the washer is 211 707 189, the brand of the bolt is Lobo, the size is M10x20mm (i actually measured 21mm long without the bolt head) and it is zinc plated and yellow passivated, it looks like it's cadmium plated, the bolthead is 17mm. The washer is a wavy washer of about 1mm thick and has a 10.5mm hole and the outer diameter is 25mm.
Hardware is cheap to buy through the dealer, often they are even cheaper than the average hardware store, you're still not sure whether you'll get *exactly* the same as what originally came on your car but you are sure you'll get quality stuff of the correct size.
VW works with N numbers, the N stands for "Norm teile" or "standardized parts" these are parts like nuts, bolts, washers, cotter pins, grommets etc. VW attached a description of the part to the N-number, the description includes things like tensile strength, fit, size, special things like such and such radius there and there, and surface treatment like zinc plated, yellow passivated, phosphated etc. these part where supplied by several german suppliers like Lobo, Kamax, Graeka, FHS, 3F, etc.
There's a microfiche that list all these descriptions and as long as you find the piece of hardware that exactly matches the decription you have in fact an original replacement, VW does exactly the same except they order them by the million i guess.
The 211 707 189 part number of the washer tells us it's specifically made for VW, it's not a standard part.
If you are not concerned about originality you can go to the hardware store and ask for a metric bolt of 10x20mm and a (maybe a wavy washer of 10x25mm.
