metric, whit, unf, bsf.......nuts to you and me

[markbigears]

im ordering a mix bag of stainless nuts and bolts, anyone got an idea what measurement they are.
cheers, mark

[Paul V]

Most are metric I believe

[markbigears]

cheers paul

[johno]

Don't believe it for a second !! Depends in the age of the car. Some of mine have been imperial such as the trailing arm bolts.

I would order metric though as most will fit accordingly.

Cheers

Mark

[markbigears]

cheers mark, i thought as much! still a bag of 100 stainless bits and bobs for 20 quid aint bad i suppose.
and most i hope will fit.

[Pete_W]

-you might be lucky and get a warning label like a friend of mine,

'Warning, may contain nuts'!

[PeterC]

If I might suggest - don't waste your money.

Buy a copy of Classic Car weekly newspaper and look for a classic car autojumble near you. I regularly attend the one held at the East of England Showground at Peterborough. There is usually at least one stall selling stainless steel nuts & bolts etc., at very keen prices. These traders do the rounds of most shows.

Simply bring along a sample of what you need. I bought for example 12 manifold bolts & spring washers in s/s for around £1.20

Classic car autojumbles are a good source of all kinds of things, including tools, paint, protective clothing, second hand parts, you name it, and prices are always very keen.

Incidentally, there are usually a couple of stands dealing in old car sales brochures and manuals. I have been buying TVR S Series brochures circa 1990/1 covering the S3 & S3C and paying between £5 and £7 for them.

[markbigears]

ah peter, if only i had the time to go to any car events! this year the only one im gonna make for sure is the kent messenger hop farm one..... oh the days of every weekend at some car related event are long gone.....thanks for the advice though. mark

[Paceracing]

By sheer coincidence, I have been looking into buying a large number of different sized, assorted SS nuts, bolts & washers for rebuilding the 'S'. Demon Tweeks are the only ones who seem to be able to help with the least amount of aggro, i.e. buying 100 all in one size or having to muck about with trade shows, autojumbles etc..
The problem is, Demon Tweeks are so damned expensive!

Jas.

[Paceracing]

Just found this;

www.mr-fastner.com
Look at the technical information link.
They look pretty good to me.

Jas.

>> Edited by Paceracing on Wednesday 12th June 18:38

[LeeBee]

I can get most metric sizes, let me know what you want and I will do my best!

Cheers

LeeBee
P.S stainless steel does not have a high tensile strength so use them accordingly

[Paceracing]

LeeBee,
What would you recommend for replacing the wishbone and damper attachment bolts?

Jas.

[tav]

Just to back up what LeeBee says, the s/s bolts will have a different tensile strength depending on what grade they are. Also the other properties of stainless steel are different to normal steel and therefore I wouldn't encourage a direct swap in a critical area without being sure it is OK.

Another issue is that the more stainless steel that you put in direct contact with normal steel, will actually speed up any corrosion in the normal steel!!!

I would suggest that the best advice is to replace bolts with the same, as it takes any guesswork out of it.

[shpub]

Yep totally agree. One other problem is that metric bolts are not an exact fit and even a 0.5mm difference especially in suspension and transmission bits can cause problems becuase of the movement it gives. This can start to wear out bushes and bits very quickly.I now check with a calliper and the thread with a known nut.

I keep a stock of UNF/UNC/BSF/Metric bolts and nuts and buy spares of any specials I need.

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

>> Edited by shpub on Thursday 13th June 14:07

[LeeBee]

One other thing I forgot to mention is that using stainless against stainless (nut on bolt etc) can be a big problem if it picks up, by this I mean if the nut or bolt (or any other stainless component) has an imperfection or burr the nut will seize and believe me you will not get it undone (I learned this the hard way as everything I make at work is in Stainless steel, it is like welding them together, even a hydraulic press didn't shift the parts in question).As for tensile ratings I use 12.9 on suspension components (i.e damper, wishbone etc) this is marked on metric bolts but imperial bolts have another way of identification so make sure you get the right strength.Stainless will be ok for unstressed applications though

Cheers

LeeBee

[PeterC]

I fully concur with comments about NOT using stainless steel bolts in critical locations such as the suspension. Certainly any item that has its own TVR part numbers should be considered as critical and replaced on a like for like basis.

However, there are applications where stainless would be completely safe to use and it is often easier now to source a handfull of s/s bolts & nuts, than try to find an "ordinary" nut and bolt in Halfords?. With this in mind I have enclosed details of two companies that were exhibiting at the Kit Car and Classic Car Show at Newark over the weekend.

AIDPAC telephone [phone] Contact: Roy Summers
(www.stainlessman.co.uk)

CNL Stainless tel. [phone]
8 The Orchard, Wylam, Northumberland, NE41 8BS
NB. Issues a nice little catalogue/price list complete with photographs. Offers mixed nuts, bolts, washers value packs ranging from £13.32 to £33.58 for 240+ items inc. p&p

Hope this helps.

[markbigears]

many thanks everyone for the advice, cheers peter for the phone numbers. Wish me luck....MOT day tomorrow!