What do you do with rusty bolts?

[elacruze]

Me too. I have been through the Mopar Nats OE Gold deal but I have to have what Ma Mopar put in them when they were new on all my stuff. To me that contributes towards giving the car its identity back. That's the sick, crazy kind of whacko I am - I don't tell anyone else what they should do on their own stuff unless they ask my opinion. 

I wrung my hands and lost sleep for weeks over my quarter panels. They were very solid (see pics) but had a couple dings and creases. Finally I let my rational half buy the new, since they were cheaper than the bodywork necessary to make the old ones perfect, and they were coming off the car already anyway. I felt like they were the soul of the car and I was losing something by changing them. My car's a clone anyway, made from the parts of a genuine R/T rustwagon I bought the year before so the 'originality' argument eventually wore off.

[The70RT]

I figure if they can be saved then take a little time and save the originals. You can clean the paint and some surface rust from a fender bolt on a wire wheel in 30 seconds or less.

[268RTs4ME]

I usually sand blast my rusted NUTS and bolts and go on about my business. as for Opinions there like ashol... everybody has one..

[bull]

IMO buy what you can new because these fasteners were not designed to last 40 years, be removed and blasted and painted and then reinstalled for another 25 years of service. That being said, many of the fasteners made in the USA 40 years ago are still of better quality than many of the ones made in China yesterday. And one big problem with replacement is that many of these fasteners are too specialized to find at your local hardware store. I've been to one of Portland's 3-4 main sources for specialty fasteners and more than once have not been able to find the right kind of bolts to do an exact swap like I want to do. Another good thing about the new quality fasteners such as fender bolts is that they use a rust-prevention plating like cadmium so they will last a lot longer without corroding than the original stuff did.

Anyway, here's a decent article on the topic from Hemmings: http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2008/12/01/hmn_feature2.html

[36 Dodge Brothers]

I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes but here is my story. When I turned eighteen years old in 84' my dad gave me his first car, a 68 Charger R/T, my first car. At that age all I wanted to do was build a fast car with lots of chrome, braided lines, basically I wanted a fast show car, so, I went out and built the car the way I wanted it.  For the last 23 years the car has not changed until about three months ago when I decided that I wanted a stock looking car. I went to my dad's house and picked up every single part that was ever removed by me and started what I consider a partial restoration, meaning I still wanted a lumpy cam but with a stock looking engine compartment. I went out and purchased a nice 5' sandblast cabinet and started the process of restoring the parts that I was going to use again. When it came to removing all the bolts and nuts that had chrome I found myself asking the same question, how am I going to make 41 year old bolts look like new, since I was not planning on painting all of them, I looked at Eastwood for that. I purchased the home electro plating kit, I was surprised with the final result, they looked new after the sandblasting, electro plating & hand polishing. Two thing that I was smart enough not to do when I first got the car, the first was not throwing out the original parts and the second was never cutting into the car for any modifications I did. My high school friends that still have their muscle car tell me that they wish that they would have saved all their stock parts. I have a 5 year old daughter that one day will own the car, and, on that day I want to give her a 100% Mopar not 90% Mopar and the rest from some other country that I won't mention . So sixpack_sid  I think you are taking the right approach as long as that is what you want, and by the way I do recommend the electro plating system unless you are going to paint the bolts. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Oh, and by the way, I decided I wanted a better braking system so I purchased a front disc brake kit, guess what I did with all the old components? The old parts got sandblasted, primed, painted and stored away (including bolts and nuts) in case one day I want the car to be 100% the way it was when the factory built it.

The first pic shows the cross member bolts after the electro plating, the second one is what the engine compartment looks like now, no chrome for except the original breather on the valve cover. 

[Aussiemadonmopars]

I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes but here is my story. When I turned eighteen years old in 84' my dad gave me his first car, a 68 Charger R/T, my first car. At that age all I wanted to do was build a fast car with lots of chrome, braided lines, basically I wanted a fast show car, so, I went out and built the car the way I wanted it.  For the last 23 years the car has not changed until about three months ago when I decided that I wanted a stock looking car. I went to my dad's house and picked up every single part that was ever removed by me and started what I consider a partial restoration, meaning I still wanted a lumpy cam but with a stock looking engine compartment. I went out and purchased a nice 5' sandblast cabinet and started the process of restoring the parts that I was going to use again. When it came to removing all the bolts and nuts that had chrome I found myself asking the same question, how am I going to make 41 year old bolts look like new, since I was not planning on painting all of them, I looked at Eastwood for that. I purchased the home electro plating kit, I was surprised with the final result, they looked new after the sandblasting, electro plating & hand polishing. Two thing that I was smart enough not to do when I first got the car, the first was not throwing out the original parts and the second was never cutting into the car for any modifications I did. My high school friends that still have their muscle car tell me that they wish that they would have saved all their stock parts. I have a 5 year old daughter that one day will own the car, and, on that day I want to give her a 100% Mopar not 90% Mopar and the rest from some other country that I won't mention . So sixpack_sid  I think you are taking the right approach as long as that is what you want, and by the way I do recommend the electro plating system unless you are going to paint the bolts. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Oh, and by the way, I decided I wanted a better braking system so I purchased a front disc brake kit, guess what I did with all the old components? The old parts got sandblasted, primed, painted and stored away (including bolts and nuts) in case one day I want the car to be 100% the way it was when the factory built it.

The first pic shows the cross member bolts after the electro plating, the second one is what the engine compartment looks like now, no chrome for except the original breather on the valve cover. 

I have to agree, silver zinc plating is the way to go, unless you know the original color of the bolts. New bolts can be sourced for most places on the car but there are a few that can't be replaced. My car has a mix of everything i.e. chrome bolts - for area's of high detail. Silver zinc - for areas like inside door hardware that aren't seen. Original type new cad plated bolts (the brassy finish similar to the new brake booster's) - in the engine bay which looks like crap so those will be painted. I have a H code 69' Charger so I wasn't after a 100 point resto but I did want to keep the original bolts otherwise when you look at all the different types of bolts on a car it looks like it's just been slapped back together (very unproffessional).

[tan top]

I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes but here is my story. When I turned eighteen years old in 84' my dad gave me his first car, a 68 Charger R/T, my first car. At that age all I wanted to do was build a fast car with lots of chrome, braided lines, basically I wanted a fast show car, so, I went out and built the car the way I wanted it.  For the last 23 years the car has not changed until about three months ago when I decided that I wanted a stock looking car. I went to my dad's house and picked up every single part that was ever removed by me and started what I consider a partial restoration, meaning I still wanted a lumpy cam but with a stock looking engine compartment. I went out and purchased a nice 5' sandblast cabinet and started the process of restoring the parts that I was going to use again. When it came to removing all the bolts and nuts that had chrome I found myself asking the same question, how am I going to make 41 year old bolts look like new, since I was not planning on painting all of them, I looked at Eastwood for that. I purchased the home electro plating kit, I was surprised with the final result, they looked new after the sandblasting, electro plating & hand polishing. Two thing that I was smart enough not to do when I first got the car, the first was not throwing out the original parts and the second was never cutting into the car for any modifications I did. My high school friends that still have their muscle car tell me that they wish that they would have saved all their stock parts. I have a 5 year old daughter that one day will own the car, and, on that day I want to give her a 100% Mopar not 90% Mopar and the rest from some other country that I won't mention . So sixpack_sid  I think you are taking the right approach as long as that is what you want, and by the way I do recommend the electro plating system unless you are going to paint the bolts. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Oh, and by the way, I decided I wanted a better braking system so I purchased a front disc brake kit, guess what I did with all the old components? The old parts got sandblasted, primed, painted and stored away (including bolts and nuts) in case one day I want the car to be 100% the way it was when the factory built it.

The first pic shows the cross member bolts after the electro plating, the second one is what the engine compartment looks like now, no chrome for except the original breather on the valve cover.  

sorry to hijack this thread guys , would love to see some mote pictures of your charger dude , done a nice job  under the hood ...whats the original color  

[FJ5WING]

I have a question about the use of chemical rust strippers.

Once the rusted part is free from rust you will still have pitted metal correct? So what is the advantage of using the stripper?

I am under the impression I will need to replace all my rusted hardware due to the amount of pitting. Ive tried the wire wheel routine and was less than thrilled with what was under the rust.

[Sixt8Chrgr]

I have a question about the use of chemical rust strippers.

Once the rusted part is free from rust you will still have pitted metal correct? So what is the advantage of using the stripper?

I am under the impression I will need to replace all my rusted hardware due to the amount of pitting. Ive tried the wire wheel routine and was less than thrilled with what was under the rust.

not all hardware pieces are pitted.