Salvaging some bolts

[f575gtc]

Hey guys, I recently restored my Mazda Miata and replaced alot of the bolts with new ones, but now I am left with a tub of bolts that I have left over.

I cant use them on my car anymore because I sprayed it blue and it was originally red, so I was wondering would one of those vibratory tumblers, like the 5lb one harbor freight offers, with the coarsest rust removing media clean the rust off the bolts and remove the paint off the heads so I can recycle them for some other applications?

 

[kabinenroller]

Forget the HF tumbler, I bought one and it was next to useless. I gave it away to some rock polisher. Best bet is to have them chemically stripped or blasted. If you strip them you could put them in a screen type bucket and they could dip them in bulk. They will be bare metal after eithe process so you will need to have them plated. Industrial clear or gold zinc plating is the best route.
I also Parkerize a lot of hardware for restoration use.
Depending on your location these services could be in your area.
Jim

 

[Mark in Indiana]

Over the years, I've probably collected enough industrial fasteners to fill 4, 5 gallon buckets. I just sort them and put them in separate boxes according to fastener type. I only clean them as I need them.

If I had your problem, I would either do that or sell them to another Miata enthusiast (if they're OEM bolts).

 

[thebeekeeper1]

I too save old, used bolts from farm equipment. I clean them with a wire wheel on rainy days. It keeps me off the streets.

 

[Scout Driver]

Another vote for using a wire wheel to clean them up.

Scott

 

[larry_g]

I have yet to hear a machine complain that I used the wrong color fastener in it.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[f575gtc]

Its more for aesthetics, I would never be able to find the time to wire wheel brush the screws.

 

[JR 42]

I used to strip interior house paint (going back to the 1920's, so some lead paint) off interior door hardware by boiling it in water with granulated automatic dishwasher detergent and letting it soak. If you're really serious about this method, you can use an old slow cooker.

I have no idea if this would work with automotive paint.

Soaking the bolts for a couple days in Jasco or some other methylene chloride paint stripper would probably work.

JR

 

[jayoldschool]

Buy a couple big jugs of vinegar, and dump the vinegar and bolts in a bucket. Take the bolts out a week later, they will look brand new.

 

[gtg082y]

I'm definitely in the 'clean it when you need it' camp, but the vinegar method seems like the lowest risk, simplest, and maybe cheapest.

Jay - is the vinegar really stout enough to remove automotive paint?

 

[Jason280]

I too save old, used bolts from farm equipment. I clean them with a wire wheel on rainy days. It keeps me off the streets.

Holy hell, you sound just like me. I have just about enough bolts to reassemble a late '90s Explorer and a couple Jeeps, I physically do not have the ability to toss out a fastener.

 

[thebeekeeper1]

Holy hell, you sound just like me. I have just about enough bolts to reassemble a late '90s Explorer and a couple Jeeps, I physically do not have the ability to toss out a fastener.

Famous last words of those of us of German descent--"I might need it someday." It's a genetic malady.

 

[astroracer]

Evaporust.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=300750

 

[Ray-CA]

If you are going to get a vibrating cleaner, get one like these: http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/8/stype/?searchVar=vibrating+cleaner

Ray

 

[iajonesy]

I must be in the minority here. I hate using used nuts and bolts unless I'm forced to. I was the same way at work,it just seems like you are short changing the job by not using new. The cost, time factor also seems to be a wash.

Mike

 

[rustbucket5]

I must be in the minority here. I hate using used nuts and bolts unless I'm forced to. I was the same way at work,it just seems like you are short changing the job by not using new. The cost, time factor also seems to be a wash.

Mike

i too hate not using new bolts, getting new nuts and bolts is cheap and speeds up reassembly and prevents any issues coming from the fastener itself (however rare that occurrence may be)

 

[Mark in Indiana]

I must be in the minority here. I hate using used nuts and bolts unless I'm forced to. I was the same way at work,it just seems like you are short changing the job by not using new. The cost, time factor also seems to be a wash.

Mike

In my case, the benefit of having a stock of used hardware is that you don't have to drive across town to the big box hardware store for a couple of bolts, which adds an extra hour to the job. 90% of what I have is grade 8.

 

[Fugio]

Leave the painted till you need them. Then wire wheel.

 

[slip knot]

Leave the painted till you need them. Then wire wheel.

This or just leave them painted and paint them over again if the original paints sound. The only time I wire wheel anything is when its rusty or greasy.

 

[f575gtc]

Evaporust.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=300750

does evaporust do anything for paint though?

 

[thebeekeeper1]

does evaporust do anything for paint though?

Only if there is rust encroaching under the paint. Sound, intact paint is unaffected.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

Used fasteners are sorted into drawers in an old 27 drawer letter file after a brief cleaning in the parts washer.. All metric goes into one drawer.. 3/8, 7/16, and so on bolt sizes have separate drawers, all nuts both unc and unf nuts share a drawer. I do not have separate drawers for allen head, specially machined, fine thread, extra length or oddball bolts. I will keep some of the oddball bolts separate by putting them an a plastic container, but then put that container of bolts in the proper "size" drawer with the other bolts.. I also have drawers for strictly GM, Ford, Mopar, Allis Chalmers, Cummins, Briggs and Stratton, etc.. Definitely not a perfected system, but there is no LENGTHY CEREMONY involved in cleaning, sorting, storing, or finding a used fastener..

I am glad that I never wasted time wire brushing the bolts I have saved over the years.. Especially those 3-4 gallons of Caterpillar yellow nuts and bolts I hauled back from Denver in 1972 when our crew scrapped out a couple of crawlers.. Most of those bolts have proven to be either a quarter inch too long or short over the last 44 years.

 

[wkndwarrior29]

I use coffee cans to sort by thread size and stack them in an industrial 4 drawer lateral filing cabinet that I obtained from govtsurplus. I clean them enough that I won't make a mess when I need to find the right bolt, but leave paint removal and thread cleanup for pre-use. Wire wheel works when necessary.

 

[jayoldschool]

Vinegar won't remove the paint, just the rust.

 

[2oolhound]

Having lived in a rural area miles from the nearest town for many years I learned to keep all fasteners. Everything was stripped and sorted and if it was too big to fit in a compartment, drawer or small container it went in the bone yard outside. You never know when you had to cut a section of a car frame for a piece of steel or dismantle a rear end for crown gear etc. If I had to cut a bolt down that was too long I'd sneak a die stock on 1st, then cut it to length and twist off the die which would clean the damaged thread where you'd cut it. Having to buy new fasteners to mount an old vise or bench grinder etc just doesn't make any ₵.