There should be a sticky on refinishing bolts / hardware ??

[JE BMW]

Been searching on what kind of finishes to get for the hardware and ther seems to be many options, but i still havent decided. got a set of style 5s thar are waiting just for the bolts to be refinished. was thinking transparent gold powder coat, but then i searched and some guy told me he could get them electroplated gold, but i think thats gonna come out like yellow/ greenish gold, so now im waiting to get an estimate on brass and gold plating the heads, threads can be just clear coated and nuts probably just nickle or zinc plated.

Some people also paint them and i was thinking, self etching primer with some engine paint and bake them in the oven for a while so the paint sticks better??
I thought about this option for a while too.

Ill keep posting as i get quotes, pics, etc

[aeok18109]

wire wheel or some kind of bead blaster should do the trick in removing any old shit on them.

[JE BMW]

oh yeah, forgot to mention. I put the bolts and nuts in vinegar for a few days. It took off all the paint, clear. I polished the head of the bolts with my drill. now i do have to get them refinished, so they dont rust.

[KarlSpackler]

Yeah, not a huge demand on this hence why there is no stickey. Most wheel bolts have to be tightened and the paint gets eff'd when you tighten them. I know Style 5's are different.

[Crankey]

I've read that wheel bolts shouldn't be used again...no experience with it yet but that's what I read.

aside from that, real gold will not tarnish. brass will tarnish or oxidize green. think bronze statues and boat hardware. brass also turns a dark brown color out in the weather before it starts to oxidize green.

nickel will also turn dark...browns and blacks. it cleans up with most metal polishes though...like brass.

zinc will oxidize to a white powder like aluminum.

you can get gold in different tones like more pinkish when you alloy copper with it. go to the platers shop and look at samples of the work, best way to see what they can do.

[JE BMW]

Yeah, not a huge demand on this hence why there is no stickey. Most wheel bolts have to be tightened and the paint gets eff'd when you tighten them. I know Style 5's are different.

yea. style 5s and style 19s have those splins..i am planning to refinish the nuts and im just gonna put some masking tape in the socket

[JE BMW]

I've read that wheel bolts shouldn't be used again...no experience with it yet but that's what I read.

aside from that, real gold will not tarnish. brass will tarnish or oxidize green. think bronze statues and boat hardware. brass also turns a dark brown color out in the weather before it starts to oxidize green.

nickel will also turn dark...browns and blacks. it cleans up with most metal polishes though...like brass.

zinc will oxidize to a white powder like aluminum.

you can get gold in different tones like more pinkish when you alloy copper with it. go to the platers shop and look at samples of the work, best way to see what they can do.

yea, some people re-use them, i did in another set i just finished, didnt touch the clear on the bolts.
I called a plating place, they said they could do brass and clear coat it . theyre supposed to call me back with a quote tomorrow.

not really a lot of plating shops close to where i live to go see what they can do. and kinda hard to find online as well..

would be nice to see what people have done with their bolts and post it ..

[Crankey]

i see...I guess I'm lucky cause I work in a metal shop that has stuff plated all the time. the platers is just 4 blocks from my work.

brass plating will tarnish but isn't too hard to shine up again with something like Mothers or Flitz. clear coats will peel and look crappy imho, so personally I'm going with stainless bolts. we have a chemical that will turn stainless steel black, so I want to try that on one set of wheels I have. the black is an oxide and will rub off over time, but I like the shined up corners where the black rubs off.

[JE BMW]

i see...I guess I'm lucky cause I work in a metal shop that has stuff plated all the time. the platers is just 4 blocks from my work.

brass plating will tarnish but isn't too hard to shine up again with something like Mothers or Flitz. clear coats will peel and look crappy imho, so personally I'm going with stainless bolts. we have a chemical that will turn stainless steel black, so I want to try that on one set of wheels I have. the black is an oxide and will rub off over time, but I like the shined up corners where the black rubs off.

Ill have to see what the guy says tomrw. i know gold plated bolts do need to be clear coated too, he said it wouls be a light coat and itd be durable, i guess the bmw bolts were done like that.
dont think the spray can stuff would work. unless maybe some vht engine clear coat baked on? decisions decisions..lol

Just wanna get a lil more info before i end up doing them.

Does that black chemical stay and protect from rust??

[andybob]

Ill have to see what the guy says tomrw. i know gold plated bolts do need to be clear coated too, he said it wouls be a light coat and itd be durable, i guess the bmw bolts were done like that.
dont think the spray can stuff would work. unless maybe some vht engine clear coat baked on? decisions decisions..lol

Just wanna get a lil more info before i end up doing them.

Does that black chemical stay and protect from rust??

Stainless doesn't really rust.

From Wikipedia:

Stainless steel does not readily corrode, rust or stain with water as ordinary steel does, but despite the name it is not fully stain-proof, most notably under low oxygen, high salinity, or poor circulation environments.[3] It is also called corrosion-resistant steel or CRES when the alloy type and grade are not detailed, particularly in the aviation industry. There are different grades and surface finishes of stainless steel to suit the environment the alloy must endure. Stainless steel is used where both the properties of steel and resistance to corrosion are required.

Stainless steel differs from carbon steel by the amount of chromium present. Unprotected carbon steel rusts readily when exposed to air and moisture. This iron oxide film (the rust) is active and accelerates corrosion by forming more iron oxide, and due to the greater volume of the iron oxide this tends to flake and fall away. Stainless steels contain sufficient chromium to form a passive film of chromium oxide, which prevents further surface corrosion and blocks corrosion from spreading into the metal's internal structure, and due to the similar size of the steel and oxide ions they bond very strongly and remain attached to the surface.

I want to refinish my Wald's next winter and try and source all Stainless hardware. I've done a fair bit of searching thus far, and it seems hard to find stainless socket head bolts.

[Crankey]

hardware...?

http://www.mcmaster.com/#screws/=nc95l6

tunershop has wheel hardware too

and yeah, we have chemicals to darken steel, brass copper etc.
the stuff for steel won't protect it from rust. it just makes it black. but the stainless steel would stay resistant to rust, but have a black oxide. it will scratch but it stays on pretty good.

the thing about a clearcoat is it's always just some kind of plastic coating, sort of, and so they always get hazy and dull, eventually scratched and chipped. but if you decide to go raw (for the lips and brass plated bolts) you really gotta commit to maintain them...wash and wax at least weekly depending on your weather and if you drive in a dusty area. if you let them go, it'll be alot herder to polish up the lips around all those bolt heads.

[andybob]

hardware...?

http://www.mcmaster.com/#screws/=nc95l6

Holy shit man. That site is awesome. Thanks for posting!

[JE BMW]

thanks guys. imma keep searching, guy wanted 2.50 for each brass plated bolt, thats 340 bucks.
and gold plated he wanted 5 bucks each.. crazzy,,,