Painting Bolts?

[rustykan 140]

Just started some sandblasting on my C-120 and I have a stupid question. How does everyone take care of the bolts when reassembling the tractor? I plan on painting everything while it is apart and was wondering what to do with the bolts. Most were originally painted from the looks of it. Do they get painted separately and if so, what is the best way to do this? Thanks again for all the help!

[cleat 6,690]

I painted a lot of mine with high temp black. Takes longer to dry but seems a little tougher.

 

Leaves a semi-gloss finish.

[redrooster 83]

Not a dumb question! Another guy said "I don't paint bolts" I went with that and bought mostly all new bolts. I painted a few like the tie rod nuts. You will have to touch them up with an artist's brush after tightening. If a bolt head turns on fresh paint it scratch or chip it. Be very carefully!

[cleat 6,690]

I replaced lots of mine as well, some grade 5 where strength was required, some stainless where there was to be less load.

 

Some factory bolts and screws however are unique in appearance and/or function and need to be reused.

 

Cleat

[Wishin4a416 2,191]

I went the don't paint em route. I used all new. I figured if I painted them, I would just chip them tightening.

Good Luck with your restoration!!

Edited April 23, 2014 by Wishin4a416

[shallowwatersailor 3,213]

I agree with Cleat. Where I can, I use stainless steel. One other thing to do is to use Never Seize just in case it needs to come apart again. Old mechanics always said that it was more for the next guy, especially after fighting with them!

[rustykan 140]

I went the don't paint em route. I used all new. I figured if I painted them, I would just chip them tightening.

Good Luck with your restoration!!

IMG_1894.JPG

I think I'm leaning towards the new bolts. Looks good on yours. Did you use zinc plated or stainless steel?

[Wishin4a416 2,191]

I think I'm leaning towards the new bolts. Looks good on yours. Did you use zinc plated or stainless steel?

I used the Zinc.

[Martin 2,133]

if you have good original bolts why not replate them? As was mentioned some bolt sizes/styles are unique. find a plating shop nearby (iff possible) and get them redone. prices vary, but way cheaper than buying new. i have gone both routes, less than a 1/3 cost to replate than buy new, and you can get all the other plated parts on the tractor done at the same time for the same cost. most places charge a flat fee for a certain weight. The place i use charges $40 for a 3/4 full 5 gallon bucket. In the pic below the parts make up less than half of that....

I've done two batches on my latest tractor, have way more than i need to finish it,

most economical way is to pull the whole tractor apart and take everything in in one go and pay for just one batch.......

i can get them done in yellow and clear, these are yellow....

 

 

Edited April 24, 2014 by Martin

[rmaynard 15,719]

The closest plater to me charges $125.00 as minimum. You can buy a lot of stainless steel for that price.

[the_nite_owl 15]

Here is an interesting article on zinc plating if anyone is interested.

Time consuming if you need to do a lot of parts but easy to do at home.

http://home.comcast.net/~rt66tbird/website/zincplating.html

[pacer 3,174]

I reuse as many as possible and I have tried 2-3 methods of cleaning and reusing the existing nuts/bolts, deciding that the quickest & easiest is using a 6 or 8" coarse wire wheel on bench buffer type motor and with a larger size pair of pliers to grip, clean them. The threads are always the hardest to get cleaned and the wire wheel seems to do the job with the least effort, I then wet them down good with phosphoric acid which will retard re-rusting for a long time. I generally reuse the hex heads just in the recleaned state. With the carriage bolts - WH loved them carriage bolts! - I will paint the heads. I find a piece of cardboard, or box, and poke appropriate sized holes in it to push the threads thru, leaving the head exposed to get the paint on and not the threads. Of course with most reworks, there are always a good handful of them that HAVE to be replaced.

 

The nearest re-plater that I know of is Dallas, Tx, some 175 miles - dang it!!   Sooo many times I'd like to get something plated....

[DanPatch 6]

_{In the past I like to paint all parts before assembling them. I use stainless bolts that are the same type as the original ones. If the original one had a square head so does the replacement one. Sometimes this means making or modifying the bolt. Such as lug bolts or some shoulder bolts. I feel this gives the tractor a dressed up look. I think the tractors were originally partly assembled then painted right over the bolts. If you look in the book Straight from the horses mouth you can see pictures of them being painted this way. I also have another brand of tractor that has the International Harvester logo on the bolt heads. These I don't want to replace so I am in the early stages of setting up my own plating tank. I want to be able to nickel plate the bolts and small hardware such as throttle and choke levers. Nickel plating is one of the easier ones to learn and get set up at home.} 

[km3h 543]

if you have good original bolts why not replate them? As was mentioned some bolt sizes/styles are unique. find a plating shop nearby (iff possible) and get them redone. prices vary, but way cheaper than buying new. i have gone both routes, less than a 1/3 cost to replate than buy new, and you can get all the other plated parts on the tractor done at the same time for the same cost. most places charge a flat fee for a certain weight. The place i use charges $40 for a 3/4 full 5 gallon bucket. In the pic below the parts make up less than half of that....

I've done two batches on my latest tractor, have way more than i need to finish it,

most economical way is to pull the whole tractor apart and take everything in in one go and pay for just one batch.......

i can get them done in yellow and clear, these are yellow....

 

 

Wish I lived near this guy. I have several projects going and a lot of nuts and bolts. I winder if I could ship them to him and he would ship them back.

[redrooster 83]

When I recently painted some bolt heads I drilled holes in plastic jugs and screwed them in for a tight fit. This held them secure so I could easily move around to paint all sides.

[HorseFixer 2,012]

Redrooster has a good idea there, I use styrafoam and let that hold them to paint, kinda same idea. On my RJ56 i went all stainless steel. I dont care that there is less of a grade rating because I wont be stressing the tractor anyways, and it is more for show.     If I am going to work the tractor I would stay with original or replace with grade 5 or 8 bolts as required and paint them. I think the plating is a good idea if you can get done reasonably as Martin suggested.  ~Duke 

[Tankman 3,520]

I use all stainless hardware if available. Zinc or cad plated if SS isn't on the shelf.

 

If I paint bolts, I stab them in a piece of cardboard and spray away.

 

Of course, Never-Seeze° on all the threads. Makes life easier.

 

For flat foot rests, coarse skateboard tape. One piece does both rests. Works great.

[Mr. 856 170]

I agree with Cleat. Where I can, I use stainless steel. One other thing to do is to use Never Seize just in case it needs to come apart again. Old mechanics always said that it was more for the next guy, especially after fighting with them!

I used all new hardware on my 856. All stuff collected over the last few years. I decided to not paint any hardware because I like the look of the shiny silver bolt on the painted parts. Whatever you decide to do you cant go wrong. this is after all your machine so do as you please. The best advice I can offer is what was said above. If it has to come apart in the future a dab of never seize goes a long way. If not for you the next guy will thank you for it.

[redrooster 83]

Yes on the never-seize! :)

[Zeek 2,286]

I went the don't paint em route. I used all new. I figured if I painted them, I would just chip them tightening.

Good Luck with your restoration!!

IMG_1894.JPG

 

   The factory paints them because it's easier to paint everything when things are semi-assembled and probably keeps them from rusting. They are not painting individual bolts.  I polished the bolts or go stainless.  If a particular piece looks better with the bolts painted, then I paint them.  Personal choice.  

Edited May 29, 2014 by Zeek

[zipper 10]

On the C-120 I used stainless and nylock nuts with flat washers, stainless all the way. I think I have stock in the local hardware store.

[redrooster 83]

i did use never-seize!