The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Steel bolts to Stainless Bolts

Fellow Stovies,

I have been contemplating replacing all my steel bolts on my frame with stainless bolts. Has anyone done this? I am worried about the strengths of the bolts, especially when bolting things like the front crossmember on.

Any help would be appreciated.

I used cad plated grade 8 bolts from my local tractor supply. Looks good to me(kinda gold-ish) & plenty strong. USA made, I buy them by the pound. Brian

I have used mostly steel Grade 5 and some Grade 8 on my restoration. As to stainless, that would be overkill for my truck. Maybe perfect for yours - your call.

What I can recommend is that you buy a stock of Bolts, Nuts, and Lock Washers. Most of mine are grade 5. You will mainly need 1/4", 5/16", and 3/8" from 3/4" long to 2". Buy them in bulk - at least 25 count bags to keep the cost low. 40-50 year old lock washers and rusted bolts are not worth the time to mess with.

Paul

I've been using stainless on several areas of my truck but not on any parts subject to major stress. Just cosmetic stuff. Polished stainless is pretty expensive so I have bought some hardware store bolts and polished them myself. I grind of the markings on the head, then sand with progressivly finer sand paper then polish with a pad mounted on the bench grinder. I seem to have more time then money right now so this works for me.

Stea, I'm glad I'm not alone, I wanted polished for my bed bolts, so I've been sanding w/600/1000/1200 then polishing on my bench grinder w/buffing wheel. I sand bolts while watching TV etc.like some folks knit or crochet. Brian

bkndsdl1: I did my frame in stainless steel especially, nuts and washers. Then even did the grease Zerks. Got my stuff and fairly reasonable (LOL) from Gardner-Westcott Co.

popcorn The Truth is Out There (Gloss black frame w/SS looks great. Did rear end cover in Bow Tie SS Bolts cool)

My brother in-law gets stainless by the pound from an electricians warehouse. I use it everywhere I can, especially outside the truck. The only thing special you have to do to use stainless hardware is to treat the threads with anti-seize to prevent thread gaulling. Run them through a wire wheel and you have chrome hardware,
Scott

First, as has been pointed out, avoid the hardware store grade 2 stainless bolts. Totally Stainless, GMC Pauls and others sell graded SS bolts. Do a web search and you will find many. Early on I bought a SS bolt dress-up kit from one of the board sponsors, and had problems with non-graded bolts with no heat-treatment.

Stainless steel threads gall, which is where the metal transfers from on thread to another under load. A stainless nut on a stainless bolt will soon be a joint you cannot unscrew. The bolts can be loose in the nut, but with a portion of threads on the other part, all you end up with is a bolt that turns but you cannot get out of the nut.

Ways to prevent galling: The best is to use carbon steel nuts on stainless bolts. That's what we used on aircraft until titanium bolts were widely used. Anti-sieze compound works, but it also helps the bolt loosen over time. Threadlocking compounds also have anti-galling properties, but all of the threads in contact must be coated. Other methods used include using gooey sealant and dipping the bolt threads in paint before assembly. Both are sloppy.

Another problem with SS is contact with non-ferrous metals. Aluminum, copper, brass and magnesium are examples. The contact area is subject to galvanic corrosion, where a mini electrical field is formed and causes the metal to corrode. Again, sealants and paints help, but avoidance is best. This is one place where my opinion differs from the hot rod industry, I will not use SS bolts on an aluminum head, intake or block. I've had to work too many aircraft corrosion issues to trust the procedure.

While we're discussing buying bolts. I have found farm stores to be a good source of carbon steel bolts at reasonable prices.

One that is close to me is Atwoods, a small chain out of Enid, OK. They sell bolts, nuts and washers by the pound, usually for about half the price you pay in a hardware store. They are manufactured in the USA by Rockford Bolt & Steel. Their grade 5 fasteners are cad plated, which is the golden finish you see on grade 8's at the hardware store. The plating on their grade 8 bolts is a funky blue color, not sure what kind of plating it is. If I use them I paint over the blue bolts.

Thanks, fellas. I'll make sure to use the correct grade bolts.

FredT, alot of people don't understand about stainless being in contact with carbon, either. I used to work at a pipe hanger shop; we used stainless sheet regularly. We glued rubber mat to our forks on the forklift so the carbon on the forks wouldn't come in contact with the stainless, causing it to rust. Even the carbon in a pencil lead is enough to cause it to rust wherever you wrote on the sheet.

Our sister company was a fastener supply warehouse. I remember our boss telling us of a gentleman who was building a boat, and bought a ton of stainless steel nails. About a year later, the boat owner tried to sue the boss claiming he had sold him carbon steel nails instead fo stainless like he wanted. When the boss asked if he used a stainless hammer, the man laughed and said of course not, I used a regular hammer. What had happened was, all the heads of the nails rusted off because of the introduction of carbon from the hammer head. They pulled off one of the boards on the boat, and found that the shank was intact, just the head was gone.

That being said, I don't know of anyone that has a stainless steel tool set.......

So are you all useing grade 5 bolts on fenders and body panels?

Guys,

You've brought up some VERY interesting points here, this stuff was not known to me. :confused:

Thanks very much for sharing your knowledge and experiences in such a thoughtful discussion. I'm sure this will benefit many others, as well.

Regards,
Wannabe

Found this place the other day while cruising the web- http://www.mmsacc-stainless.com/

They sell complete body bolt kits for our old trucks in stainless.

FredT, your post regarding SS to other metals raises a quesiton for me. I am doing restoration of '50 Chev 3100 and am about to order SS brake lines. However, the junction fittings for the brake lines on these trucks are brass. Is this something to be concerned about? Would steel lines not be subject to similar corrosion concerns that you raise? I didn't notice any when removing the 54 year old steel brake lines. Would this be different with SS?
Steve O

Stainless steel will rust, there's no way around it. I just rusts a lot slower than carbon steel

Steve O - It's my opinion that stainless steel brake lines are okay to use, I've heard nothing about the brass fittings. That would depend on any finish coating on the fittings. There is nothing wrong with regular steel lines, as long as the fluid is maintained and you don't let dirt or mud accumulate on the lines. Then they rust. On my 52 all of the original steel lines are original save for the one on the rear axle, it was coated with mud and thin.

The biggest problem with the SS brake lines comes with the heat treatment and bending. One of the companies sells them in an annealed (soft) condition, which will allow you to do some bending to fit your truck.

Another question on the stainless. I called the local bolt supplier and they stated that the stainless bolts come in different grades for corrosion resistance not streangth. Is this right?

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larger image here

Thanks Joe!

Bolts (carbon or stainless) are graded for tensile and shear strength. This is the same grading system for either. A grade 8 carbon steel bolt must pass the same strength test as a grade 8 stainless. You can also buy SS bolts of different alloys with varying levels of corrosion resistance, but the price increases tremendously.

My experience with overseas manufactured SS bolts has not been good, and seeing that sheet does not surprise me. You can buy US made SS bolts from several sources, I placed an order for a kit from GMC Paul earler today for a body bolt kit for my 68.