Is there any reasonable way to restore the bright finish to bolts. I hate putting a bike together with fresh paint and plastic with the grungy crappy original bolts. It's cost prohibitive and difficult to get individual bolts through the dealer. Some of the flange hardeware is hard to get aftermarket. Paint on bolt heads chips too easy. What are you doing to restore your bolts to new quality and durability? I'd be willing to put out $30-$40 bucks a bike to make the bolts look better. I thought about trying to find a local zinc plater. Thoughts?
What to do about bolts?
- Thread starter Bent6
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I did find a place that will do it called Midwest Rustproof. The minimum charge is $80. They will do about 20lbs. of bolts for this money. I'll wait until I have at least 2 projects going before sending them in unless I find a partner to send a load in with mine.decade377 said:
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Succubus said:
Can you get Japanese bolts at the fastener suppliers? What do I mean by Japanese bolts, even sized heads or flanges. All the US metric hardware I find is queer. Most bike sized bolts have 11mm or 13mm heads. Maybe I'm picky, but this bothers me and looks out of place on a Jap. bike. $80 spread over 3-4 bikes is pretty cheap to me + I could also do the specialty fasteners: Swingarm, piviots, headnut... I though someone here could suggest a plater who does smaller lots than what I've found. I'm sure many restorers are more picky than me.
Well, I don't know about Japanese bolts, but you can get metric bolts with the right length and pitch that have the same size head as the bolts on these old bikes. I haven't had any problems with any of the bolts on my eight bikes. Sometimes the Japanese manufaturers used bolts with an odd length, so you go slightly longer and cut them to length with a Dremel.
I'm talking fastener supply house, not local hardware store or Home Depot. You can also replace all the phillips head screws with socket head bolts and never strip a head again, and take your choice of silver zinc plated soft bolts, black hardened zinc plated bolts, bolts with a different plating or no plating or stainless steel bolts. It's not just about funtionality, it's also about looks.
Besides, I like to know that I'm not relying on 30-year-old steel bolts to keep my motor running and my face out of the dirt.
Patrick
I'm talking fastener supply house, not local hardware store or Home Depot. You can also replace all the phillips head screws with socket head bolts and never strip a head again, and take your choice of silver zinc plated soft bolts, black hardened zinc plated bolts, bolts with a different plating or no plating or stainless steel bolts. It's not just about funtionality, it's also about looks.
Besides, I like to know that I'm not relying on 30-year-old steel bolts to keep my motor running and my face out of the dirt.
Patrick
I go to Ace Hardware for most of my bolt needs, they seem to have a better selection than Fastenal or anybody else. The Japanese manufacturers did use bolts with a reduced head diameter which makes getting an exact match difficult. Later bikes used lightened bolts for the big ones as well. This doesn't mean the hardware store bolt won't fit, though.
BadgerMan
Mi. Trail Riders
- Jan 1, 2001
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:nod: Stainless is the way to go, IMHO.
I had good luck ordering from Bolt Depot (www.boltdepot.com) as they do not have minimum order quantities like a lot of other supply houses. I replaced the old socket heads on my 1986 XR with stainless socket heads. They look very nice and do not corrode like the originals did.
Every bike I ever touch gets stainless screws for the master cylinder cap. It's like the ones Nissin used were made out of butter. I also put a dab of anti-seize on them and they never stick.
Stainless is harder than the crap steel they use for screws, but it cannot be used in every application on the bike as it is not as strong as some of the other steel alloys. If the bolt is marked 8.8 or harder, I do not recommed replacing it with stainless. Socket head bolts are hardened and some applications require that extra strength so think about the load on the bolt before you replace it.
Stainless is harder than the crap steel they use for screws, but it cannot be used in every application on the bike as it is not as strong as some of the other steel alloys. If the bolt is marked 8.8 or harder, I do not recommed replacing it with stainless. Socket head bolts are hardened and some applications require that extra strength so think about the load on the bolt before you replace it.
According to my bolt guy, the black zinc hardened bolts are much stronger that stainless, usually in the 12 range for hardness. More than you need to hold side covers, but it's what I use for any bolts or screws where a heavy or precise torque is needed. Socket heads, always. better grip, easy to set the torque, no stripping. I usually replace every bolt on an engine when I rebuild it. Stainless is pretty, black is pretty and strong.
Patrick
Patrick
Ol'89r
LIFETIME SPONSOR
- Jan 27, 2000
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Bent.
Check out these guys, www.eastwood.com
They offer an electroplating kit that will do zinc plating and it is very reasonable. Does a fair job of replating small parts. They also sell tumblers and vibratory tumblers. If the bolts only have surface rust, the tumblers do a great job when you use the right media. Eastwood also sells the media.
If the rust is etched into the bolt then it should be stripped or bead-blasted before plating. The lot price you were quoted is normal for cad.
Be careful when replacing OEM hardware. As already pointed out, many of your bolts are Grade 8 or harder. Be sure the replacement bolt is of equal quality. Also, those flanges on some of the bolts are there for a reason. It's not a good idea to replace them with standard hex head bolts. Stainless, although stronger than mild steel is not as strong as your OEM hardware and is much heavier than OEM if weight is important.
If you are actually doing a restoration, it is important to keep everything as stock as possible. Non OEM hardware will take away from the resale value of a bike.
Just my $ .02
Check out these guys, www.eastwood.com
They offer an electroplating kit that will do zinc plating and it is very reasonable. Does a fair job of replating small parts. They also sell tumblers and vibratory tumblers. If the bolts only have surface rust, the tumblers do a great job when you use the right media. Eastwood also sells the media.
If the rust is etched into the bolt then it should be stripped or bead-blasted before plating. The lot price you were quoted is normal for cad.
Be careful when replacing OEM hardware. As already pointed out, many of your bolts are Grade 8 or harder. Be sure the replacement bolt is of equal quality. Also, those flanges on some of the bolts are there for a reason. It's not a good idea to replace them with standard hex head bolts. Stainless, although stronger than mild steel is not as strong as your OEM hardware and is much heavier than OEM if weight is important.
If you are actually doing a restoration, it is important to keep everything as stock as possible. Non OEM hardware will take away from the resale value of a bike.
Just my $ .02
