Nuts!! And Bolts too!

AliK

Vehicle Dating Officer
Staff member
Club Member
So gang, been spending the odd hour here and there getting engine out and the engine bay ready (will start a thread on it when time allows).

I really would love to replace the chocolate coloured nuts and bolts with something shiny, new and yellow zincish.

Any recommendations on bolt kits or where to buy?

I have this bad boy, but it's not got the right bits for the engine bay. So is there somewhere you have used / would recommend for such things?
f859cda236fb3e4fb1e7df6134a03d8f.jpg


Or should I just get the existing bolts blasted and played instead?

I am aware of the stainless steel kits but wondering if someone does an equivalent in zinc plated tensile steel?
 

Turn & Burn

Club Member
I’ve looked everywhere for a decent selection of fasteners, outside of the US / Japan I found it’s almost impossible to find JIS spec (with the smaller heads) or even decent quantities of SEMs fasteners that are affordable. I’d be interested to see what you come up with.
I tried to read the email address on you pack, where did they come from?

As an engineer on a plant that uses almost exclusively stainless I would recommend staying away from it. Tensile strength wise A4 is close to an 8.8 bolt, but tends to pick up really quickly and seize, dry moly spray will help.
 

toopy

Club Member
Ive searched extensively for exactly the same reason, ive come to the conclusion, your better off getting what you can, if its reusable, plated.
Its hard to come by the correct bolt sizes with the proper Japanese JIS type bolt heads and nuts, most of the stuff available has a head 2 spanner sizes bigger in most cases, so some simply wont fit right and if they do work, look wrong if close to a proper JIS fitting :(

I did manage to get some bolts of limited varying lengths with JIS heads from a place in Germany, but they are Bright Zinc Plated without the yellow passivate as on the OE bolts. Ironically It does actually say on the packaging 'made in Japan'!
Im not a big fan of the yellow colour so it didnt matter to me ;)

Any non stressed fittings, ive simply swapped for Stainless Steel, some of these came from Germany, so are JIS equivalent, others not.

Hope that helps :thumbs:
 
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toopy

Club Member
attachment.php


like this :) but the washers are not captive, and they are fully threaded, where as some of the OE bolts arent
 

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AliK

Vehicle Dating Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Thanks fellas. All great insights / advice.

I got that lot from 'stralia via eBay - here's a better pic. Cost £100ish after postage and customs thievery.

75ba70197a6e2893650095019b6988a6.jpg


https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/222136671259

Was going to mail the guy to ask if he has other Z friendly bolt sets.

Toopey - do you find the S/S bolts stay tight? I read somewhere that they don't "stretch" like tensile steel bolts when torqued and have a tendency to "shake loose" after a while. Would be interesting to hear your experience.

Also been reading about potential differences of different metals and galvanic reactions: it's a lot more complicated than I imagined!!! But also explains why some of the non-original bolts the PO put on the car turned to chocolate and sheered!

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/electrode-potential-d_482.html
 

toopy

Club Member
Toopey - do you find the S/S bolts stay tight? I read somewhere that they don't "stretch" like tensile steel bolts when torqued and have a tendency to "shake loose" after a while. Would be interesting to hear your experience.

Also been reading about potential differences of different metals and galvanic reactions: it's a lot more complicated than I imagined!!! But also explains why some of the non-original bolts the PO put on the car turned to chocolate and sheered!

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/electrode-potential-d_482.html

None of the SS bolts have come loose, but then i always tend to use a split/spring washer anyway!
When replacing/refitting any non stressed bolts SS or Steel, i always use a bit of grease on the thread, be that Copper, LM or some proper water proof stuff, for bolts likely to get sprayed with water i.e. spoiler fittings and bolts that emerge through the inner wings from the engine bay side.
Obviously anything requiring a proper torque setting is not greased, but that would likely be chassis/running gear related and therefore not SS anyway.
 

toopy

Club Member
remember to buy yourself a proper JIS screwdriver set, 3 pc on ebay for about £22.

Good point, I havent got myself one yet for the normal type round head screws, but for the bolt head type i always use a spanner or socket anyway, especially for OE bolts that are less than perfect, even a proper JIS screwdriver will chew those!
 

Jimbo

1978 260z in yellow
Club Member
don't use stainless in aluminium you get galvanic corrosion meaning over time you won't get them back out and as already pointed out the tensile strength can be a bit all over the place trying to match like for like tension.
i changed most of the fastenings on mine for plated standardised fastenings as they're much easier to come by even chrome plated.
 

SacCyclone

Club Member
remember to buy yourself a proper JIS screwdriver set, 3 pc on ebay for about £22.

Franky, any recommendations on JIS screwdriver sets.

I see Hozan and Vessel brands on US e-bay but I have not heard of either of these brands before. I find the standard phillips head does not fit secure on my Z car screws.

Thanks,
Mike
 

AliK

Vehicle Dating Officer
Staff member
Club Member
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johnymd

Club Member
I have the ones from LHD cars replated and they look like new. The UK ones are a bit too corroded. I don't give them any that are painted as then need to sit in the acid too long and that damages the clean bolts.
 

strugrat

Club Member
Thanks fellas. All great insights / advice.

I got that lot from 'stralia via eBay - here's a better pic. Cost £100ish after postage and customs thievery.

75ba70197a6e2893650095019b6988a6.jpg


https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/222136671259

Was going to mail the guy to ask if he has other Z friendly bolt sets.

Toopey - do you find the S/S bolts stay tight? I read somewhere that they don't "stretch" like tensile steel bolts when torqued and have a tendency to "shake loose" after a while. Would be interesting to hear your experience.

Also been reading about potential differences of different metals and galvanic reactions: it's a lot more complicated than I imagined!!! But also explains why some of the non-original bolts the PO put on the car turned to chocolate and sheered!

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/electrode-potential-d_482.html

Have you used any of these bolts yet? I have the same kit and used 4 of the M8 bolts to mount the steering rack. When I torqued them up the threads stripped (was only around 34Nm or so if I recall right). They were a massive PITA to remove again and I haven't used them since.
 

Jimbo

1978 260z in yellow
Club Member
metric for nearly all of it.
my local supplier can match a lot of bolts too so can order mann different bolts with the correct thread.
i think the only origenal bolts i have bought for my z was the manifold bolts and studs from mike feeney.
the nuts were copper ones for bmw mini turbo available cheaply online.
 

AliK

Vehicle Dating Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Don't get too excited ... minimum spend $500! (for international customers - so the UK)



Hopefully it might be a case of getting them here by other means - maybe in a car Mike ships or something ...



Ouch!!!! I do have regular travellers who can help on that front. May have to abuse friendships ;)

metric for nearly all of it.
my local supplier can match a lot of bolts too so can order mann different bolts with the correct thread.
i think the only origenal bolts i have bought for my z was the manifold bolts and studs from mike feeney.
the nuts were copper ones for bmw mini turbo available cheaply online.


Awesome. Already have studs and copper nuts courtesy of American ex-boss and his rage suitcase ;) but very interested in knowing who the supplier is you use, if at all possible to share.

Have you used any of these bolts yet? I have the same kit and used 4 of the M8 bolts to mount the steering rack. When I torqued them up the threads stripped (was only around 34Nm or so if I recall right). They were a massive PITA to remove again and I haven't used them since.


Not yet and that is very disappointing to hear! :( they look decent enough but now I will proceed with extreme caution!

I have the ones from LHD cars replated and they look like new. The UK ones are a bit too corroded. I don't give them any that are painted as then need to sit in the acid too long and that damages the clean bolts.


Good to know! Virtually all of mine have overspray courtesy of PO! And good to know about the rust and acid issue.

My thermostat housing bolts are very corroded - especially as there has been a long term weep there.
 

Jimbo

1978 260z in yellow
Club Member
http://www.cbhfasteners.co.uk/
these are the people i use.
ive yet to find something they cant get although most items ive had will have a alternative style head hence why i said if you change all of them most people wouldnt know.
they will also sell you one bolt (albeit an expensive way of doing it) so you dont have to worry about minimum orders.
 
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