Best Treatment For Fasteners

[Clatter]

So, here I have a whole car taken apart....
All of the nuts, bolts, washers etc. have been wire wheeled down and are clean and pretty.
I have mocked everything up,
And thanks to taking a couple of parts cars apart,
Have a nice 8.8 bolt perfect for every thing I need.

My 70s bus had black oxide (?) coated bolts.
These early type 3s I have here seem to have had some type of bright plating.
Silver, almost like it was shiny at one time.

What is the best way forward for a durable finish?
I live two blocks down-wind from the ocean,
And everything rusts overnight.

Brent did a bunch of zinc chromate(?) in his Eastwood plating kit he got.
He kind of dismissed it as halfassed for some reason.
The chrome plating bumper shop I talked to said that it would cost a buck or two per bolt,
If they were to be show chromed by them.
Too much...
They also suggested a zinc coating.
But weren't familiar with zinc chromate...

There is also bluing, and anodizing...

What is the Pro Bro way to go?
I need some real protection for my "Nut and Bolt" project here.
and like the look of silver fasteners vs. black.

(even tho I feel like a sissy for caring what bolts look like)...

[Ian Godfrey]

Black zinc is a reasonable finish, balance of cost, durable and looks, you can ask your plater to put on a few extra microns. Close to the sea nothing really works long term except stainless but at a considerable cost. Check out the Totally Stainless catalogue and the VW pages. Over here in Oz zinc chromate is a paint finish

[Ol'fogasaurus]

The silver plating is usually cadmium, works good but does wear off after a while.

Grade 5 SS (marine def)/CRES (aerospace def) is a tad softer than grade 5 steel for what it is worth. Good for moisture, salt air and a neutral between carbon steel and AL.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Home anodizing, this is a sample of what is out there and a quick search should get you more answers. I saw that even hard anodizing may (?) be done at home. I hope this helps as it is another protection method that is available.

http://www.warpig.com/paintball/technical/anodize.shtml

http://www.ehow.com/how_4491907_anodize-home.html

http://www.engineeringhobbyist.com/proj ... anodizing/

http://www.mini-lathe.com/Anodizing/ano ... uminum.htm

All of the above is anodizing A which is the most common metal you hear of being anodized, but (giggle) you can anodize steel, CRES/SS, titanium, etc. also.

http://www.ehow.com/how_7155639_anodize-steel.html

http://www.finishing.com/245/20.shtml

Lee

[dunegoon]

Cadmium or zinc plated fasteners work pretty well. One factor to consider is the metal that the zinc plated bolt or nut contacts. For example, zinc or cadmium corrode quickly when in contact with aluminum or magnesium. To combat this, put a non-corrosive washer in between the cadmium/zinc plated fastener and the reactive metal. SS washers are fairly cheap compared to SS nuts and bolts, so this trick saves a lot of money. 5/16" SS washers fit pretty well with 8mm hardware. SS washers are usually pretty thin, so avoid using them where high strengths are expected.

I am afraid of cadmium chemicals, be sure to check the MSDS and treat them with respect.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Good points!

Lee

[hugging corners]

Bluing:
Sodium hydroxide 2 parts (Soda also used for electrolysis)
Sodium nitrate 1 part (Chile saltpeter meat preservative)
dissolve on hot water and boil fasteners for 10 minutes
-surface turns "vintage" blue
also somebody here mentioned that get "bluing" by damping heated fasteners in burned/old motor oil.


I yet have to try ol'f's method as described above, since my electrolysis gear is in full effect!

[Clatter]

To update this thread,

I sent my stuff out to a place in Oregon.
my friend who does vintage harley stuff recommended them,
and they ROCK!

This was a whole pan's worth of hardware.
Front and rear suspension, pedal cluster, tranny hardware, etc.
All from a type 3 and 944 Turbo, so many fasteners and small parts.
And also rare and hard to find, too.
They do airplane stuff, so they laughed when i was saying the parts were precious.

All of the stuff i sent was tanked,
then wire-wheeled down and glass beaded too.

So it all fit in a big flat-rate box (barely).
They really did me right.
$150 bucks, including return shipping!!
If you price out using an (inferior) zinc chromate kit,
You might spend that much by the time it was all done.
not counting your time...

They did them all in "White cad" which has a silver color.
it came back and looks tits!
The coating is thin enough so all fasteners fit without effort.
I have been smacking it with a small hammer, and it doesn't chip.
a couple of spares are sitting outside in the rain,
and so good so far.

Check out their site.
http://precisionmetalfinishing.net/

I'm not affiliated with them or anything,
But the stuff they did for me was really nice, thought i would pass it along...

[Ol'fogasaurus]

interesting!

[Bruce2]

The silver plating is usually cadmium, works good but does wear off after a while.

That's true of fasteners from the olden days, but not today. It is very uncommon to find any true Cd plated fasteners today since Cd is toxic. Some countries ban manufactured products containing Cd plated fasteners, so the fastener industry has switched to Zn. Virtually all "silver" plated fasteners today are Zn.
You can still get things plated with Cd, though.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I looked it up and Cadmium (a by product of Zinc) is being replaced somewhat by Zinc “…Cadmium occurs as a minor component in most zinc ores and therefore is a byproduct of zinc production. It was used for a long time as a pigment and for corrosion resistant plating on steel while cadmium compounds were used to stabilize plastic. With the exception of its use in nickel–cadmium batteries and cadmium telluride solar panels, the use of cadmium is generally decreasing. These declines have been due to competing technologies, cadmium’s toxicity in certain forms and concentration and resulting regulations.[2] Although cadmium has no known biological function in higher organisms, a cadmium-dependent carbonic anhydrase has been found in marine diatoms….” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadmium.

With the problems with Zinc I was kind of surprised to read this but I think it is the “…anhydrase has been found in marine diatoms…” that may be most of the reason for this… an environmental reason.

Good catch Bruce but I am sorry to see it come about.

Lee

[Clatter]

Cadmium performs very well. It usually will offer double the corrosion resistance as zinc

Also

For installing fasteners, a predictable high tension is obtained at low torque with cadmium. This feature, combined with its compatibility with aluminum, has made cadmium a popular finish for aerospace fasteners and other aerospace and military applications

So, protects better than zinc, and also compatible with aluminum.

At least that's what they claim.
it's the internet after all.
Will let you know in another 10 years or so...

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I was in Aerospace for almost 34 years and Cad was just about all we used other than SS in certain situations which is why I was surprised at what Bruce said.

Lee

[rubbachicken]

i try to use stainless where ever possible
buying in bulk keeps the cost down a little

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Grade 5 CRES (SS) is not the same as Grade 5 steel, it is slightly less. It has been too long now since I retired and was in the "books" but I think it is the same for Grade 8. ?they are OK for what most of us are doing but just be aware that this is what you get.

Lee