Nuts and bolts

Is it preferred to continue to use the 40 year old nuts and bolts by cleaning off the small amounts of deposits and rust, or go ahead and replace with new hardware ? If so, what do you use for sprucing them up ?

EJ333 said:

Is it preferred to continue to use the 40 year old nuts and bolts by cleaning off the small amounts of deposits and rust, or go ahead and replace with new hardware ? If so, what do you use for sprucing them up ?

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Your question is open ended. If economics is not a concern, replace everything. If originality is an issue, fasteners just like parts can be restored, replated or even painted.

Fasteners used for critical parts generally require more scrutiny but aren't necessarily discarded due to age alone. So too, fatigue and finish are not necessarily the same concerns.

How would you clean any metal parts? Some that are exposed to the elements can be beyond help. Others, are only cosmetically challenged. With just a few fasteners, a wire brush or wheel and some solvent should be adequate. It may be easier when cleaning a lot of fasteners to use a parts tumbler or an electrolytic hot tank.

What ever you do, wear gloves and eye protection. Proper ventilation is probably a good idea too.

In order to preserve originality, I replated most bolts and flat washers. There was an amazing variety of flat washers on my E3. Most nuts can easily be sourced new and there are no distinguishing marks or unusual configurations as there are with bolts and flat washers. All lock washers and wave washers should be replaced.

There are real concerns over weakening fasteners through plating by hydrogen embrittlement. All that researched online indicated that mostly the highest grade ratings, 10.9 and 12.9 are a concern for failure. However, I'm not a metallurgist so my advice is worth what it cost you...

I have found that the washers are the most difficult to match and therefore worth saving. The original washers tended to be thicker and wider than the available new replacements.