Dealing with rusting bolts?

[Danwarb]

Hi guys,

I've replaced all the bolts that I can with stainless but some such as the 'star' bolts for the brakes, the bolts that hold the disk brakes on and some others such as the 'star' bolts that hold the cockpit in place are rusting badly.

Do you know theres replacement bolts for these on the market that are stainless?

If not how do you guys deal with rusting bolts?

ACF-50?

Cheers,

Dan

[ssevy]

Be careful that your stainless replacements have the same tensile rating as what you are replacing. Stainless can be brittle and break if overtorqued. They also strip threads easily. Whenever I am disassembling something, I wire brush the parts, and use an anti corrosion product like Boeshield T9.

[Nick Calne]

Mixed feelings on this one. My thoughts on the matter in no particular order...

You can spend a lot of time trying to drill out a snapped stainless bolt...

In some ways it would be ideal to have all stainless bolts with allen key heads as this avoids rust and means the fastener can be adjusted with travel friendly tools.

Ssevys more than correct in what he says about brittleness.

My solution to ugly, standard fasteners is simply to clean them up and colour them black with a sharpie, which works amazingly well.  Do the whole fastener before assembly and retouch once fitted.

[threepot]

Nothing goes back on my bikes without a good dose of this. Made by the same company that make ACF50. And its dialectic,so great for protecting and sealing electrical block connections etc.

http://learchem.com/products/cb-grease.html

[JayDub]

You may find the brake bolts difficult to find due to the thread pitch, the other 'star' bolts such as the longer engine bolts would cost silly money, if you can find any, apart from that as ssevy says, there could be problems with the strength.  Or you could take all the bolts, or one of each to an engineers/fixings suppliers, and ask them to match them in A2 grade.  Make sure you use copper grease when reassembling.  For the rust, wire brush then rust treatment - Kurust etc, and paint or Nicks sharpie trick with regular ACF50.
for the engine, you can buy a stainless kit (fleabay), with the matching already done.

[Timbox2]

You may find the brake bolts difficult to find due to the thread pitch, the other 'star' bolts such as the longer engine bolts would cost silly money, if you can find any, apart from that as ssevy says, there could be problems with the strength.  Or you could take all the bolts, or one of each to an engineers/fixings suppliers, and ask them to match them in A2 grade.  Make sure you use copper grease when reassembling.  For the rust, wire brush then rust treatment - Kurust etc, and paint or Nicks sharpie trick with regular ACF50.
for the engine, you can buy a stainless kit (fleabay), with the matching already done.

I went to my local supplier a couple of days ago, got 4x A2 Stainless bolts for the calipers, all for the princely sum of £2.  Probolt wants £5 per bolt!!!

[ned37]

i sure am happy i live in the desert!
rust? what's that?

[JayDub]

I went to my local supplier a couple of days ago, got 4x A2 Stainless bolts for the calipers, all for the princely sum of £2.  Probolt wants £5 per bolt!!!

Are these the large torx holding the calipers to the forks? I don't know anywhere around here who do them for less than £8+ vat... Do you know if they're the same as a steamer Tim?  If so Can you pass on the details as I'm after 3 pairs, and someone else I know is too.

[Nick Calne]

i sure am happy i live in the desert!
rust? what's that?

I got lots if you want some.

[JayDub]

I got lots if you want some.

Yeah - We'll swap you some of our rust for some of your sun 

[Timbox2]

Are these the large torx holding the calipers to the forks? I don't know anywhere around here who do them for less than £8+ vat... Do you know if they're the same as a steamer Tim?  If so Can you pass on the details as I'm after 3 pairs, and someone else I know is too.

They arent Torx on the Girlies, the OE bolts have normal 12mm Hex Heads with a flange, Ive just substituted them for 8 x 40 bolts with Allen Socket cap heads with a washer.
Think they are bigger (10mm)? on the steamers

[JayDub]

Were talking steamers here Tim... go on, get yer coat.

[Timbox2]

Were talking steamers here Tim... go on, get yer coat.

I thought we were talking about bolts :icon_wink:

[JayDub]

  ok, steamer bolts then 

[beezerboy]

maybe re-plate them. if you can get zinc roof flashing, Epsom's salt, and a power supply, its not that hard. you only need about 100-150mA on the power supply. if you can't get a real power supply try a 6v charger. plastic or glass tray, a couple spoons of Epsom, a  spoon of sugar, add water... there ya go

some start by reversing the leads first so the surface etches. that also helps clean out pits

clean them first,  best way is to bead blast.