Nuts and Bolts

[dusty]

I want to get hold of assorted Nuts and bolts, so that as I'm rebuilding parts for the plus 2 I can use new bolts. Where is the best place to buy these and what am i looking for are most of them UNC or UNF or both, or something else?

Should I use stainless or stick to Zinc plated?


Thanks
Jon

[pmallinson]

Hi Jon

Well my personal preference is for Stainless steel, if copper greased when put in you will NEVER have a seizure problem again !!

I bought a good selection from Andy at Groveco email [email protected] or [email protected] and ask about eh value packs they do and he did me a good deal on postage to Ireland as well.

Or try these 2 sellers on eBay i have used both and have NO complaints

servicechampions or Tek Hardware they both have a good selection and I have to say that i really do like their socket headed cap screws they look the muts nuts when fitted !

Hope this help

Peter M

[dusty]

Thanks Peter, Are most of the bolts UNF or UNC? or do i need a mixture?

Cheers
Jon

[gordonlund]

Jon,
Just picked up on your thread re Nuts and Bolts. Be careful. By all means use Stainless Steel for non stressed items. Decorative mainly. For anything else use High Tensile Steel (HTS), particularly on brake and suspension items. St St work hardens under alternating stresses and will fatigue fracture. St St is also not as strong as HTS as the name implies. For most suspension bolts use S or T grade (8.8 or higher under new BS standards).To achieve some of the high torque wrench settings quoted in the workshop manual HTS is a must. Safety first especially if you think of the consequences of a suspension or brake bolt failure!!!

Best Regards

Gordon

[gerrym]

Jon, echo what Gordon says re unsuitability of stainless for other than small non-critical applications. Anything brakes, suspension & drive train must be to original or HT specification using S or T spec bolts or screws (grade 8.8, 10.9). Copper slip still required.
Regarding UNC or UNF, UNF is used throughout with a few exceptions where the tapped thread is in a relatively weak casting material (so threads in the alloy rear diff cover are 5/16 UNC, the bonded in bobbins are UNC, the engine tapped blind holes are UNC). Where a separate nut is used, UNF is stronger than UNC everything else being equal.
Tip re nyloc nuts: these are used throughout car. Much more economical to purchase bulk boxes of 100 of each size required. For example, Tool FasT Direct Ltd (www.toolfastdirect.co.uk) sell 100 1/2" UNF zinc plated nuts at ?4.17 for the box. Of course if you are really flash you might want to track down a supplier that sells UNF nylocs with superior zinc passivated or olive drab coating for enhanced corrosion resistance compared to plain zinc coating.
Regards

Gerry

[dusty]

Thanks for the tips guys. Does anyone sell kits of all the necessary suspension bolts and body mounting bolts to the correct specs?

Cheers
Jon

[mikealdren]

I echo all above.

I've also found that UNF/UNC are significantly more expensive in stainless than metric (supply and demand?). As a result, I am using stainless selectively. For example, I have used stainless for the bolts that run through the sills and used metric (6mm rather than 1/4 UNF).

Spyder supply a complete kit of chassis nuts, bolts and washers and I suspect that the other familiar suppliers (Paul Matty Susan Miller, Chris Neil etc) will as well. I also came across someone selling a stainless chassis pack at Stoneleigh but he doesn't do mail order.

Stainless can pick up if it is screwed into mild steel (e.g. bolts into the chassis) but are good into the bobbins.

I use coppaslip grease, where appropriate, to help with any future disassembly

Mike

[steveww]

I buy bulk packs of assorted nuts, screws, washers and bolts from http://www.namrick.co.uk/

These packs cover most applications on the Elan. A full set of taps and dies from UNC and UNF also come in handy, Machine Mart stock these.

[Bruce Crowthorne]

I use A2 Stainless .... http://stigfasteners.easywebstore.co.uk/default.aspx

or Namrick in Brighton.... http://www.namrick.co.uk/

Feel sure they will ship to Ireland without a problem, but I guess you need to confirm.

I tend to use them in everything except the "highly stressed" ones mentioned above.
Also echo the use copper grease - works wonders! On my Elise I use stainless on the exhaust cat box / replacement pipe. You don't get much harsher an environment - been there for 6 years, on and off twice a year and only had one sieze.

Don't know of any kits, but the parts manual is good at listing the bolts by size ....

I only bought one "assorted" jar, but it was expensive, now I just order up what I need (Scottish roots showing!)

Regards
Bruce

[cabc26b]

perhaps more of the same advice but consider using aircraft ( AN or Mil spec) for any thing you wold be really sorry if it failed . This will require you to measure grip len. You can also get these pieces drilled for safty wire and of course the use of ny-locks is always a good idea. You will have the option of cad plated like OEM only better grade , or stainless ( with tensile in excess of any automotive fastner)