Stainless Steel Fasteners?

[ichthos]

Hello again,
I live in Western Washington state. Needless to say it gets a little wet around here. Between that and my TR6 sitting in storage for so long, I have had to cut off numerous bolts on this car due to rust. I have replaced almost all the exposed bolts with stainless steel in hopes of lessening my time scraping my knuckles in the future. I have not used any stainless steel bolts on the engine itself. Is there any reason why I shouldn't? I would like to use stainless steel bolts for the water pump and fan.
Thanks, Kevin

 

[Guest]

Kevin,
Me again.
Avoid stainless steel replacement bolts like the plague in any area that requires high strength bolt or nuts. All the stainless that is readily available is not up to the strength of #8 or even #5 grade bolts. Areas like the fan, believe it or not, take a lot of stress. You are better off changing everything that you want to change to grade 8 hardware. Rust is rarely an issure on a Triumph engine, way too much extraneous lubricant floating around. (High grade stainless bolts are available but you won't want to pay the price.)


In an experiment, sometimes take a stainless and a hardened steel bolt and put an impact wrench to both in a piece of junk hardware. It will open your eyes to see the stainless pop.



Bill

 

[jsneddon]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/iagree.gif

Grade 8 = good + REQUIRED IN MANY SITUATIONS THAT WILL AFFECT YOUR ABILITY TO CONTINUE BREATHING

stainless <> Grade 8

end of discussion...

 

[piman]

Hello Kevin,

I am another that would never consider using stainless fasteners. I use plated fasteners and apply copperslip anti seize compound. Despite all the UK damp I don't have a problem with seized fasteners.

Alec

 

[GregW]

Hi ichthos,
A good place to look for high-strength stainless fasteners would be ARP . Very friendly folks. Their stainless is better than grade 8, they even manufacture SS cylinder head bolts for big block Chevy’s. Another source (which I haven’t used) is Totally Stainless . Then have some tech articles you may be interested in reading.

 

[TRED]

I hate stainless threads, one little peice of anything and the stainless starts to roll up and galls up the threads.

 

[GregW]

Hi Tred,
The article on the Totally Stainless site talks about galling. They suggest using thread locker or anti-seize, especially when bolting into aluminum or another stainless object.

 

[DNK]

Kevin- You forget you are in The aerospace capital of the world . Lots of hi-strength SS in your part of country

 

[trfourtune]

usually stainless galls against stainless.please correct me if i'm wrong.
rob

 

[bailee2]

McMaster Carr is a good inexpensive S/S source. 1/4-28 and 3/8-24 will just about do your entire body. Just my opinon. My car was completed in 2001 and every bolt looks as new.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif

 

[bobh]

Rob,
You're correct. Stainless to stainless can gall. Particularly if they are the same alloy. I've seen some very expensive aerospace components ruined by a machinist who was doing a fit check without lubrication. He hand tightened a piece and it never came apart again.
Grade 8 bolts are available in stainless. However you're not likely to find them at Home Depot. Most of the stuff they sell in the big home centers is very low grade. That's how they keep the prices low.
Look in the phone book under fasteners. You'll probably find a supply house that has everything you need. Just keep in mind that they are set up for customers who know what they need. Their hardware is not out where you can browse. You should also ask if they sell to the public.
I also agree with the others that you don't need to use stainless on the engine.