Charger Electro Restoration

[jbrown 0]

Hello all,

This is my first post on a forum in a long time and my first on RedSquare. I am in the middle of restoring my Charger Electro. I have everything broken down to the frame and have been slowly cleaning and painting the parts. I was wondering what type of bolts do most of the members on here reassemble their tractors with? Do you clean and paint the original bolts or purchase new? Seems if they where painted they would scratch during reassembly.

[Martin 2,133]

:woohoo:

i like to replace everything with new zinc plated or stainless. there are many fastener companies around that sell the bolts you need. just make sure when replacing to use the same grade or better.

i use mcmaster carr for most of my bolts and also the local farm/fleet store, tsc etc.

good luck on your restore and

doesnt matter what caliber of restore you are doing pictures are great for everybody...

if you need help posting pics go to this part of the forum....

finding your way around

[can whlvr 993]

:woohoo: it depends on the tractor for me,if shes a worker then i try to reuse and replace what is needed,on a show queen then new,maybe stainless on the next one,and i give the bolts a quick shot of paint when assembled

[WildHorses 382]

:D

used grade 5 on almost everything at the factory. Grade 5 bolts and nuts are kind of hard to find at most stores but I have found you can buy them in bulk at Fastenal (Grade 5 carriage bolts esp). I generally use a grade 8 zinc if I'm in a pinch and need ssomething fast or just one or two but if I'm doing a complete deck rebuild or something I'll buy a box at Fastenal. Things that are visible and don't do much work I like to use stainless. I'll reuse the factory bolts if their in good shape but I don't think anyone is going to look at a bolt and say that's not factory bad job. Just make sure what you put back is the same thing it came with. I see a lot of tractors with the wrong size hardware or replacing a carriage bolt with a hex head. A lot of people don't realize it's grade 5 and pickup the grade two because they're cheap and then they wonder why the bolt breaks off

Hope that helps :P

[jbrown 0]

Thanks for the replies. I will make sure to replace with bolts with the proper grade. Here are some pictures from last summer when the restoration began. I am currently cleaning and painting the parts to get a rolling chassis. Hope to be working it this winter.