The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop bolt part numbers

I am restoring a 51 chevy 5 window but in the process of tear down i committed the cardinal sin and put all the bolts in a coffee can and did not take any pictures of anything. I am looking for the part numbers that the factory assembly manual uses for the bolts nuts and screws. I have tried to cross reference these numbers with the master parts catalog but to no avail. would anyone have an idea as to how to go about this process without having to sort through all the different cans to find the right hardware? Thank you for the help.

For shame Brian! There are some 40,000 people who visit this site and I'll bet only about 39,900 of them have made your careless mistake. Now there are 39,001. Welcome to Stovebolt! You already seem to fit in.
I'm with you on the pain in trying to decipher those part numbers.
Carl

Been there, done that. Wire wheel all of them nice and clean. Chase all the threaded holes and nuts. Chase all the bolt threads. Sort them by thread size, length and head style/head markings. This will show you the quantity of each. That's the key. When you start assembly it will be evident by size, length and quantity, most of the time, as to which ones to use. Bolts with flanged heads are usually for holding sheet metal parts not thick brackets or heavy components. Those items use bolts with flat washers and lock washers and sometimes nuts. Use NEW lock washers. It's not that hard. Look for around 3/4 to 1" engagement in most cases. Forget finding 1951 bolt part numbers and converting that to meaningful info., just put the truck together. Minor thing. I don't sort them either and I've done many trucks.
You must do all that thread chasing. It makes life easier. Those threads have been "resized" by a mixture of road tar, undercoat, grease, oil, peening, galling, galvanic corrosion, rust, thermal cycling and meteorite dust.

Thanks for making me feel better. Lol at least I'm not alone in making this mistake.

Thanks for the info. This has turned into a 7 going on 8 year project. Is there any way to use the part numbers out of the assembly manual to tell me what size these bolts might be? Ive tried the master parts catalog but it seems to be based on the cars and not the trucks. Thank you.

You'll mostly have 1/4-20's, 5/16-18's and 3/8-16's. Except for the door hinges on the door itself which will be 3/8-24.

With all due respect and in the interest of honesty and learning....If you want to know the size of something in a coffee can of bolts , you measure it. Get a pair of calipers and a thread gauge so you can measure. I'm not sure if you really need to know ahead of time. You can sort by eye and as said, they are all standard threads. Mostly coarse and a few fine threads. Google a chart. You can see what size you need by eyeballing the mating threads. Again, not sure why you need to know. You will soon learn by observation what a size 3/8 looks like, and so forth. You are hung up on minutiae and part numbers? As Mark indicates, there are only a few sizes with a few lengths. Clean, chase and sort by eyeballing/measuring the diameter and pitch and length and head style/markings and move forward. It's making several piles of hardware that all look the same. Then as you start needing a bolt, you pick one that will screw in and has the right "stick out" after going thru the parts you are assembling. That's when you can confirm you have made the right choice by seeing how many of those you need compared to how many are in that pile. Choose enough "stick out" for washers and a nut or to thread into a hole. If you know all this already, excuse and disregard. I don't know your level of experience with hardware yet.


calipers for thread diameter. I.E. 3/8 (the size)
Gauge for threads per inch. I.E. -16 (the pitch)

"Chase" means running a tap or die into/onto the threads to reshape and clean them. A tap and die set will have a thread gauge included.

I hesitate to answer your specific question for fear it may cause you to continue down the wrong path but.... if you find a spare parts catalog or list, you may find the part numbers from the FAM listed in the spare catalog and it may give the size, pitch and length of the bolt. Then you would measure every bolt in the can, label where they go and maybe that will take another 7 or 8 years. It is not necessary to measure every bolt in the can if you sort by eyeball and start assembly.

I don't want you to have to join a wed night focus group to do this.

Thank you MNSmith. Bartamos I understand what you are saying. i have a bolt gauge but the reason I as asking as to part numbers is so that I can find replacement bolts for certain parts. I am trying to keep this truck as original as possible as I inherited it from my grandpa before he passed away. He was the second owner of it before I got it. This is going to be a tribute to him once it is done. I have been using the master parts catalog that is downloaded to the old car manual project website along with the factory assemble manual and the shop manual. I know I'm being a little anal about these bolts but to me it means a lot to know that I can put the truck back together like it came from the factory.

Understood.

Brian, your last post "explained" the situation very well. We all get a little "anal" every once in awhile. Had you been so eloquent in your first post Bartamos wouldn't be taking so many blood pressure meds.
😳

Brian, a great thing you are doing in your Grandpa's memory.
As Cletis would probably say, you can't put it back like it came from the factory. It's only original once. I do understand about the family nostalgia. But in the final "anal"ysis we are talking about bolts!
My blood pressure is being held at bay. I am trying to be honest, not politically correct. It will not do a person any good to have a part number. They can not buy a "factory" replacement bolt that is made to replicate the old bolts. You can't order one by the part number. You may not know anything about the bolt if you did have the part number. If you did find the size, you still have to buy it at ACE. It won't be for a 51 5 window. Many other parts are available that are reproductions of original. But not bolts. I just now saw you may need a few replacement bolts and that is just fine. Until now, the question was sort of: where do the bolts in the can go? I tried to explain how that works.

The replacement bolts are at the hardware store and they are whatever ones that fit or they are the ones that match an existing "bad" bolt. Whatever kind of truck a person is building, for tribute or to haul firewood, the method of figuring out the hardware is the same. This subject is hard to be eloquent with but I am determined to answer it, fair and square, to help in this fine rebuild. BP 140/75.
When you finally get to ACE hardware, they do have some special automotive hardware in a separate section (mostly chrome stuff), other than that, just buy grade 5 hardware. There are anywhere from 0 to -10 grade 8 bolts on the truck.

Brian, if you scroll thru these pages you will see various hardware kits covering 1951. You can either order the kits (keep them separate this time) or you can see what the hardware looks like to compare to yours. There are other vendors who have hardware kits. They are all just hardware from a hardware store, put together in a bag. They are not special 1951 purpose made.
Let us know how it all goes.

If you are serious about having all original-type equipment nuts and bolts, you could spend considerable time scrounging junk yards, old barn finds, fence rows, etc, and remove the correct bolts that you need and carefully label them this time.
I have been known to be somewhat anal about bolt heads which can be seen by the casual observer. Namely the door hinge bolts which have a "TR" on the head, and clutch head bolts and screws.
Carl

And then you might be about 50% certain that the bolts you found are original bolts?

TCspoilerman. but I agree.
I am learning things about Carl that makes me scared for him. Staying on topic, I think he has a screw loose.

Thank you for all the help. Its nice to know that I can count on other restorers to put all this into perspective.

No, you're stupid, Fatso.
Now you know how I won the 1978 Intramural Debate Competition for the first floor of Baker Hall dormitory at MSU.

MSU? Mental Sanitarium Unit?
Rule 6, Stovebolt Forum: No name calling. idiot!

Alright then boys...let's take it outside ('spoon) so as to leave this thread at least partially useful.

-Jim

Thank you Jim!

So many bolts & screws brake,strip out, or are cut off and drilled out that I buy them @ $3.00 a pound for grade 5 at Tractor supply. I know some purests will use clutch head but I hate them things🔩

I second the notion about clutch heads.