marky_g

been stripping my engine bay down today for cleaning thinking of having all the rusty nuts and bolts cleaned and plated

what happens to nylock nuts when u have things plated tho?

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

i imagine the nylon part will melt

use aerotight nuts instead. some come already plated too

dan le moignan

Im pritty sure the plating does not touch the nylon, so is fine to do. Im just having aload of parts plated at the mo.

marky_g

humm dunno what to do now them might have to pay local fixings place a visit

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

doesnt the plating process involve dipping in hot acid?

ive only ever seen metals being plated, but then im not a plater

m4tt274

iTrader: (2)

i got a quote to do all my suspension bolts done on the fiesta and it was 60 quid.

dan le moignan

I done abit of research when i was looking for a decent plater, and sure i read nylocks are fine, sure ive also seen resto threads with re plated nylocs on the Escos forum. Get in contact with Chris Latham on RSOC site, he does zinc plating to an awsome standard and also does the prep work.

Turbosimpsons

iTrader: (3)

iv'e had mine done. doesn't affect plastic or rubber.

cjwood555

If the nylocs are at the point of needed replating then you really shouldn't be re-using them as the nylon simply wont be effective anymore. Just buy new ones - it must be more cost effective than getting a small batch of stuff plated anyway? Try Kenton Fasteners - http://www.applegate.co.uk/all-indus...le-1177367.htm - good guys and stock most stuff in a1/a2 stainless, BZP, chemically blackened, etc

Chris

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

i was just about to say why you want to reuse a nyloc anyway

botters

iTrader: (2)

i wouldnt use stainless bolts they are far too brittle and just tend to snap the next time you come to take them apart!

marky_g

they look ok tbh fuk it i'll just but new ones

andy130

iTrader: (2)

i had stuff plated it wont do them any harm

marky_g

what sort of prices are involved then? its all the bolts out of the engine gear box and bay lol

STAFFY OWNER

I buy all the fasteners for the engineering department that i work in and we have never had any problems with stainless steel fasteners and 99% of the fasteners we use are stainless. The only time we use anything else is for high tensile applications where we would use black high tensile bolts.

If i was replacing the fixings on my car i would use grade A2 stainless fasteners. Grade A4 is also available but they are a lot more expensive.

Might be worth others giving their experiences of using stainless fasteners on cars as my fasteners at work are only used on machines used in research laboratories (nice clean & dry environment). Maybe the stainless properties break down in certain applications on cars due to heat or vibration (but i doubt it).

There will be some places on a car where stainless will not be suitable due to the high torque settings required.

Rs Gary

the plating process does NOT affect the nylock nuts,i was a plater for 5 years and did lots of old car nuts and bolts,
cheeRS gary
AKA shrek

twinkle_2k86

when i did my engine bay, i replaced all my bolt where possible to grade a2 stainless steel ones. The high stress areas tho you cant change, so best to get plated.

I dont like plating much tho, as if you end up scrathing it, it will rust again.

nothing wrong with using stainless steel bolts tho.

Only trouble is you will find it hard to buy only a few, most bolts, nuts etc come in boxes of 100. so it could end up costly. I way lucky as we use stainless ones at work.

dan le moignan

Nothing wrong with re-using Nylocs for info.

xr4x4rs

iTrader: (5)

the nylocks will be fine, the plastic just changes colour, dont have high tensile bolts done

ive even had this zinc plated again and hasnt affected the rubber one bit or plastic, if anything its cleaned them

marky_g

humm now i dont no what to do the main nuts i wanted to do where the ones that held the antiroll bar brackets on as they were shitty, could i sand blast the rusty nuts?

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

so on my 1983 sierra, when i removed the rear shock bolts to fit the coilovers, how come i could do the nyloc nut back up with my fingers, even through the nylon part that is supposed to cause friction on the bolt so as not to vibrate off?

xr4x4rs

iTrader: (5)

no point in sand blastig them, just soak all the rusty bolts in vinegar for a few days, this will clean all the rust on them, then put them have them zinc coated and will be like new again

but if you leave them out of the vinegar for a few days they will go rusty so best bet is clean them up and when your ready to take them to the coaters just give them a quick wipe and get them sent off

marky_g

what sort of money we talking do they go on weightg or pieces?

STAFFY OWNER

Most platers will have a minimum plating charge so get it all of your parts done in one go if possible not a handful here and and a handful there. Also when we get plating done at work, if we want a bright finish we don't shotblast the component but if we want a dull finish we do shotblast it.
Finally if you do go down the stainless route by your fasteners from a proper dedicated fasteners supplier as you will get the best prices and if you pay cash they shouldn't bother with minimum orders. Most of the smaller sizes (M4, M5, M6) they will prefer to sell in bags/boxes of 100 but biggers sizes (M8, M10, M12) they will sell in smaller quantities such as tens.
If you are in the Northants/Bedfordshire area i can recommend Anglian Fasteners Ltd, i have used them for about 15 years and find them to be a good company to deal with.

marky_g

im in essex mate lol thanks for the info v helpful

dan le moignan

At a guess the nylon being so old has dried out and gone brittle?, either way nylocs are designed and can be used many times over.

cjwood555

As you say, re-use is a different issue to ageing - replating is being done because the bolts are old, so it is likely that the nylon has dried too. In any case, the plating on a new part is likely to be superior to that of a re-finished one, and there would be no need to measure the locking torque of the nut to make sure the nylon hasn't failed, only to find that it has and that you wasted the money getting stuff plated......


Chris

viper13

if your going zinc it'll just rust... your better of galv or stainless.

i dont do plating but i sell zinc plated nuts/bolts/washers anything really.. even galv stainless , self colour (black) even delta at a push

viper13

double post

marky_g

well the bolts i was goin to get plated but the nuts i was going to replace

viper13

not cheaper just to replace than to coat? specialy if its not going into a tapped hole..