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Nuts, Bolts and Washers - kits available?

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jjbunn

jjbunn

Jedi Knight
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Is it possible to buy somewhere kits of nuts, bolts and washers that fit these British cars, just a general, large assortment?

When I was working on the MGB I went bananas having to make special trips to the hardware store for the occasional nut or bolt I didn't happen to have in my spares box! I'd like to avoid that with the TR6, if I can.
 
Some "kits" are available such as fender hardware, body to frame hardware, etc. but no general british kits that I know of.
 
Nuts should be pretty easy. I'm not familar with MG's per se, but on the TR's there are essentially three size nuts that always seem to come into play. 1/4"-28, 5/16"-24 & 3/8"-24. A box of 50 or 100 of each is worthwhile to keep around. Bolts are a whole different animal because of lenghts. They can vary anywhere from 1/2" long to over 3" long.

After a quick check at McMaster, I see they have such an assortment that you might be looking for in the sizes I mentioned above. It comes with nuts and washers, both flat and lock. After you link up to the site, poke in part # 91340A111 in the find box. It might be what you're looking for.
 
martx-5 said:
Nuts should be pretty easy. I'm not familar with MG's per se, but on the TR's there are essentially three size nuts that always seem to come into play. 1/4"-28, 5/16"-24 & 3/8"-24. A box of 50 or 100 of each is worthwhile to keep around. Bolts are a whole different animal because of lenghts. They can vary anywhere from 1/2" long to over 3" long.

After a quick check at McMaster, I see they have such an assortment that you might be looking for in the sizes I mentioned above. It comes with nuts and washers, both flat and lock. After you link up to the site, poke in part # 91340A111 in the find box. It might be what you're looking for.
Click to expand...

Wow, this looks very promising! I never cease to be amazed at the benefit of belonging to these Forums /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/banana.gif
 
jjbunn said:
Is it possible to buy somewhere kits of nuts, bolts and washers that fit these British cars, just a general, large assortment?

When I was working on the MGB I went bananas having to make special trips to the hardware store for the occasional nut or bolt I didn't happen to have in my spares box! I'd like to avoid that with the TR6, if I can.
Click to expand...

Trust me, you will be on a first name basis with the guy that owns your local hardware store before long. I am.
 
Not sure if the TR6 has as many Nyloc nuts as the TR3 does, but if it does, you might consider buying a box of each in the sizes Art mentioned.

Usually, the original nuts are reusable if they are plain nuts, but Nylocs wear a bit (and lose their locking power) each time you install or remove them, so they need to be replaced periodically.

FWIW, I have a PDF file of the magic decoder ring for "standard" Triumph hardware part numbers (the ones that begin with 2 letters followed by 3 or 4 digits). PM me if you'd like a copy (it's about 2 Mb). It won't help with where to find some of the screwier parts, but at least you'll know what you're looking for.
 
I just purchased all the hardware to rebuild the front of my 3 from Aircraft Spruce. I replaced every single nut, bolt, washer with AN hardware. AN (Army/Navy) hardware meets or exceeds the Grade 8 specification we need for suspension parts. I believe the cadium coating, while a goldish tint probably won't fly for a concours car, the corrosion protection and the verified quality of the hardware is important to me. It ran me about $80.00 and I still have quite a few washers,bolts and nuts of the various sizes mentioned above. The only thing I changed was I substituted all steel stop nut to replace the nyloc nuts. I personally don't care for using nyloc nuts on moving parts and use only steel. I will use nylocs on non-moving parts.

Gordo
 
Excellent point, Gordo, on the use of all-steel locking nuts. I concur on the use of these nuts on moving parts. I buy all my nuts (and bolts) from either NAPA (#8, or so they say) for most applications and for really critical parts I go to a nut and bolt specialty shop and seek out quality pieces that I am assured are of the best quality, ie, non-Chinese. How anyone could use a Nyloc on something like a u-joint flange is beyond me.

Every large town or city has a specialty shop, usually located in the industrial section. The sales people should know their products and, believe it or not, the prices are often cheaper than a big-box store.

As far as the cadmium plating often seen on quality high-grade nuts and bolts, I have a friend that created a concours-quality TR4A and used many of these plated bolts for his car. The judges docked him heavily.
 
I quess a guy could use AN stainless steel to get the correct "look" but to me the price was way out to lunch. A 3/8 24 X 1 5/8 cadium bolt is 40 cents and the same bolt in SS is $4.95. A little rich for my blood!!

Gordo
 
Gordo said:
I quess a guy could use AN stainless steel to get the correct "look" but to me the price was way out to lunch. A 3/8 24 X 1 5/8 cadium bolt is 40 cents and the same bolt in SS is $4.95. A little rich for my blood!!

Gordo
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ALso, be aware of the grade of stainless fastener and its alloy content. The "average" stainless steel fastener is about equal to a Grade 2 steel fastener. Stainless steel is SOFT, so they're fine for holding a body panel, but keep them away from the suspension and driveline

Obviously, AN Grade fasteners fall into a different category and use alloying properties that impart hardness and strength. I used "grip length" fasteners on the Healey, and that really makes getting the right bolt a challenge (available in 1/8" increments), but also has the advantage of a solid shank through the assempbled components.
 
Good point Randy. The "grip length" way of choosing fasteners to me is the only way to go. I will not put threads inside of a bore hole. If by chance I am an 1/8 too long, I'll use a AN960 washer to shim it if there is clearance, up to a maximum of 2 washers. Any more than that and I get the correct length bolt.

The problem with Grade 8 hardware from the local hardware store is that they have to much thread for most applications and not enough shank. And I agree with you about hardware store SS. Good enough for fenders and doo-dads, but not for suspension.

Gordo
 
I also use steel locking nuts on the driveshaft flanges, as I found even new Nylocs would back off over time. (Likely my driveshaft was somewhat out of balance.) But, that doesn't get away from the need to replace them sometimes, it only delays it. After repeated cycles, they will no longer grip as well. And, when they do wear out, they take the bolt threads with them.

BTW, "AN" fasteners aren't necessarily very strong. They are just very consistent quality. There's a discussion of that on the ARP site.

Also BTW, there are a few bolts on Triumphs with special diameter shanks. Before you go substituting, it's probably a good idea to be sure you know all the relevant specifications. The "dowel bolts" that locate the gearbox to the rear plate, and the brake caliper bolts spring to mind. Haven't checked, but I suspect the driveshaft bolts are supposed to have full-size shanks too. Basically, anything that doesn't have a part number in the "standard" hardware system will have something special about it.
 
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