stainless fasteners

pomm001 · Jan 11, 2006

My 2002 Adventure is down to its knickers at the moment having it winter restoration. I am part way through fitting a stainless fastener kit from Steptoe , it includes caliper bolts but not the bolts that hold the calpiers together ( you know the ones that look rusty )
I have stumbled across a small shop in Leiceter that has a good selection of stainless fasteners in stock, got the calpier bolts for about £2.50
, the shop is called 'all screwed up' and is at 24 cavendish Road
tel 0162839900, small shop but seems to have a big selection, he gets lots of bike boys in, doesnt do mail order so drop down and take a sample with you

Rob Farmer · Jan 11, 2006

Good call - I'll give him a call

pomm001 · Jan 11, 2006

Rob Farmer said:
Good call - I'll give him a call

by now yo may have worked out typo with the phone number
it should be 0116 283990

thornley · Jan 11, 2006

pomm001 said:
My 2002 Adventure is down to its knickers at the moment having it winter restoration. I am part way through fitting a stainless fastener kit from Steptoe , it includes caliper bolts but not the bolts that hold the calpiers together ( you know the ones that look rusty )
I have stumbled across a small shop in Leiceter that has a good selection of stainless fasteners in stock, got the calpier bolts for about £2.50
, the shop is called 'all screwed up' and is at 24 cavendish Road
tel 0162839900, small shop but seems to have a big selection, he gets lots of bike boys in, doesnt do mail order so drop down and take a sample with you

Please think twice before fitting stainless bolts through the calipers, unless they are of the correct grade i.e not A2 which is designed for catering industry applications, static bolting and is the most commonly available stainless grade. A2 work hardens when subject to vibration and heat. It may not fail but it has nowhere near the correct physical properties for critical areas and brake calipers are pretty critical. I think Steptoe leaves these bolts out for this very reason. Fastener technology is a science on its own and brake part manufacturers test parts to destruction to achieve the correct properties. Check first it may look better but....

Bronco Billy · Jan 12, 2006

thornley.........

I was tempted but when I noticed your location.......yor da man.....

Rob Farmer · Jan 12, 2006

I wouldn't fit stainless to any area that was going to be under stress, I learnt my lesson years ago by Sliding up the road when my BSA's home made stainless mudguard stay sheared off and dug into the front tyre

It's always handy to have local suppliers for stainless though.

pomm001 · Jan 13, 2006

thornley said:
Please think twice before fitting stainless bolts through the calipers, unless they are of the correct grade i.e not A2 which is designed for catering industry applications, static bolting and is the most commonly available stainless grade. A2 work hardens when subject to vibration and heat. It may not fail but it has nowhere near the correct physical properties for critical areas and brake calipers are pretty critical. I think Steptoe leaves these bolts out for this very reason. Fastener technology is a science on its own and brake part manufacturers test parts to destruction to achieve the correct properties. Check first it may look better but....

Thanks for you note

I am aware that stainless has to be treated with caution , its properties do not lend itself to some applications, hence very few wheel spindles and no cylinder head bolts in stainless steel as they are not ductile.

The fixings that hold the caliper together, and there are 8 of them are not subjected to the same forces as the cliper to fork bolts , caliper body bolts are in tensile stress and not even loctited , caliper to fork leg bolts are both in tensile and shear, these along with fork clamp bolts are in Steptoe's kit .

I totally agree, proceed with caution, and if in doubt dont do it

Its a pity the standard fit bolts rust so badly that you would need to change them anyway after treee years .

:beer:

thornley · Jan 13, 2006

pomm001 said:
Thanks for you note

I am aware that stainless has to be treated with caution , its properties do not lend itself to some applications, hence very few wheel spindles and no cylinder head bolts in stainless steel as they are not ductile.

The fixings that hold the caliper together, and there are 8 of them are not subjected to the same forces as the cliper to fork bolts , caliper body bolts are in tensile stress and not even loctited , caliper to fork leg bolts are both in tensile and shear, these along with fork clamp bolts are in Steptoe's kit .

I totally agree, proceed with caution, and if in doubt dont do it

Its a pity the standard fit bolts rust so badly that you would need to change them anyway after treee years .

I used to take them out and dip the heads in dilute silver hammerite.

Wasnt trying to teach my granny how to suck eggs, you were obviously aware of the potential problems but some see bolts as bolts and fit totally unsuitable bolts in high stress critical areas. May get away with it for years, may never hear of any problems but if I'm carrying a pillion and full holiday/touring gear at 130kph + on a european motorway or braking heavily because some numpty pulls out in front of me I like to know that the bolts holding my brakes/forks or any other stressed area in place are not down on strength just to look good.

pomm001 · Jan 13, 2006

I agree

I just hate rusty things !

In your thread you mentioned painting rusty fasteners, i must admit this is the other option, and one of the best paints i have used for this is a model paint.
It hubrol ? #11 silver, its great, if you have a decent artist brush you can re-paint small parts on the BM and the colour is a bright Aluminium, and is a good match for the silver of the fastners.

and best of all it cheap

:beer:

stainless fasteners

pomm001

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Rob Farmer

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pomm001

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