Bolt restoration?

I'm doing a complete restoration of my bike. (the GPZ)

What do you guys do with the rusty bolt?

Is there a was to bring back the original finish?


Tks,
joce

jcote75 wrote:

I'm doing a complete restoration of my bike. (the GPZ)

What do you guys do with the rusty bolt?

Is there a was to bring back the original finish?


Tks,
joce

This is what I did, for bolt "restoration"
Bolts by Ron

Post edited by: KZCSI, at: 2007/11/05 19:33

Thanks but this is for the engine. and polish won't fit since the engine is black. The bolt engine are like flat black.

For the rest the bolt. Probably the best way is to go to the hardware store.

I was just wondering if there is a way to dip (probably acid)them in something and see how they will end up.

If you don't want to use stainless steel, and MUST have black bolts, Pro-Bolt, a Brit company sells kits for most of the older Kaw models. They do sell black anodized engine bolt kits for the 73-79 Z/KZ engine. Their website is: www.tastynuts.com

Look in their online catalog. Expect pricing to be bad right now as the dollar is weak against the Euro currencies. Also, aluminum is FINE for engine cover bolts as these are non-safety critical fasteners. They also have titanium for other more critical fastener needs... these guys have been around for a long time.

Check out Canadian Tire. The bigger stores have a section where they have lots of nuts and bolts in little drawers. They have quite a few black metric sizes and also black Allen bolts. However, I dont think the black ones are anodised so you might want to check to see if they will rust if left outside.

Ok I'll with the Canadian Tire and the Tastynuts for the engine bolts.

Only thing left is the grade of the bolt. For example the bolt on the triple tree holding the forks. Is there a way to see what kind of grade to have in order to have a safe bike?

The bolts holding ANY critical piece should be as strong as you can get. Usually/usually there is a number on the head of the bolt and that gives you the bolt tensile strength in megapascals (MPa) X 100. This is called the "ISO Property Class" marking of the fastener. So a bolt marked with an 8 will have a tensile strength of 800 megapascals. This is equivalent to about an SAE Grade 5 bolt (the one with the 3 "hyphens" on the head.
This grade of bolt should be the MINIMUM strength bolt used for most purposes on a bike.
Some fasteners also have a second number of them e.g. 8.8. The second "8" denotes the RATIO of minimum YIELD strength (when the bolt threads will start to deform) to the tensile strength i.e 800 x .8 = 640 MPa yield strength.
The problem with identifying proprietary fasteners with fancy heads and no markings is a PITA. Manufacturers have pretty much quit using that kind of fastener nowadays....but that's no help with an older bike.
A quick rule of thumb, as mentioned above, is to use NOTHING LESS than an 8.8 bolt in ANY bike related application.
For unidentifiable bolts in safety applications i.e steering, suspension, brakes, I would strongly recommend that you use a 10.9 class bolt as your MINIMUM strength fastener (equivalent to an SAE Grade 8...the ones with the 6 "hyphens" on the head) or go all the way to a 12.9 class bolt which is the highest strength metric fastener that is reasonably widely available.
I could go on for hours about this stuff but I'm sure you're bored to tears already. At the end of it all, DON'T BE CHEAP ON YOUR FASTENERS !!! They're all that's holding the whole thing together....right ??

Post edited by: H2RICK, at: 2007/11/10 21:46

If you want to keep your original bolts, which is what I would do, you can use a metal blackening system to make bolts black. Dip them in acid to clean all old crap and/or chrome off them, then use this kit. Works great. www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=12225&itemType=PRODUCT

Not trying to hijack this thread but I think it's related. My factory misc bolts, axle nuts, etc were looking pretty sad. So I wire wheeled them to a nice finish and in the process I guess I removed the cadium plating. Now I have light rust (duh!) Thought about painting but would chip or scrape off installing. Other than replacing, any thoughts on this?

Bluemeanie:
A NON-PERMANENT but viable solution is to wipe the unplated bits down thoroughly with a bit of Nevr-Dull wadding and then give them a buff with a clean soft cloth. Nevr-Dull is amazing stuff and as long as you don't go after it with degreasers or harsh soaps it'll last for 2 - 3 months of normal riding/washing. When you see a little rust reforming somewhere then you'll know it's time to hit all the unplated bits with the Nevr-Dull again. I've used it for years and hope they NEVER quit making it. Labour intensive....but cheaper/quicker than replating. Highly recommended, IMO.

Have never tried this but saw it in a dirt bike forum.
Would consider this may change temper strength of bolt.

oil blacking
started cleaning up some of the chassis parts by oil blacking them, its a cheap way of tidying up tatty parts. heat the part up with a blow torch then dip it into old oil, the blacker the better, job done!

And would GunKote be a hard enough finish?

I think I will go with the metal blackening system.

The purchase of that system is probably the same price of replacing all the bolts with new one.

And with that system, don't need to bother aout the strengh of the bolt.

Many thanks to everyone!
Joce