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Engine bolts opinions?

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2017 1:40 pm
by Disco
It won't probably be too long (within the year) and I'll probably be pulling the engine and doing a rebuild and paint. Does anyone have opinions on engine and engine-case bolts like the polished stainless steel kit varieties found on ebay to add a small amount of bling? Alloy boltz and stainless steel cycles seem to be the most prevalent suppliers (and pretty low cost). I've found replies about their products on banshee and harley sites with "generally" pretty decent reviews from users. Does anyone have other/better suppliers for something similar even if higher priced? I'm trying to space out my purchases and thought this might be a good thing to have figured out in advance.

Re: Engine bolts opinions?

Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2017 11:23 pm
by vmxwinn
I have some ebay set and they are very nice.

Re: Engine bolts opinions?

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2017 1:49 pm
by evan_calgary
Don't think you will go wrong there. There are low stress and steel so fairly straight forward.

+++ Good idea to get rid of any Phillips of JIS you can. They look terrible in no time and strip easy.

Re: Engine bolts opinions?

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2017 10:38 pm
by JonW
you could have your own bolts re plated as well... another option, and better originality if for a restoration.

Re: Engine bolts opinions?

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2017 10:38 pm
by JonW
evan_calgary wrote: +++ Good idea to get rid of any Phillips of JIS you can. They look terrible in no time and strip easy.
Or buy the correct JIS screwdriver... :smt003

Re: Engine bolts opinions?

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2017 11:03 pm
by evan_calgary
I have JIS. They still look awful after you remove a few tight ones. JIS and Phillips should not be on motorcycles. Thus why they now are not...
JonW wrote:
evan_calgary wrote: +++ Good idea to get rid of any Phillips of JIS you can. They look terrible in no time and strip easy.
Or buy the correct JIS screwdriver... :smt003

Re: Engine bolts opinions?

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2017 11:16 pm
by JonW
The JIS drivers I have are the ones you can hammer and they undo like an impact driver and they work very well to loosen stuck screws, even just a normal tap with a hammer and drift will help a struck screw of course. The heads of these screws can be cleaned up with a small hammer as well.

We might not like them, but if you restore our bikes you need to use these screws...

Re: Engine bolts opinions?

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2017 4:12 am
by Smoker
Disco wrote:Does anyone have other/better suppliers for something similar even if higher priced? I'm trying to space out my purchases and thought this might be a good thing to have figured out in advance.
I think Pro-Bolt has the best quality polished stainless bolts and the best selection, but they will cost more.

Better, even if higher priced... TITANIUM.

Even better and even higher priced... TiN coated titanium.

Have fun with your project! :smt023

Re: Engine bolts opinions?

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2017 8:47 am
by T.RexRacing
I bought a few boxes of button head allen in stainless from McmasterCarr cheap. Worked well and look good still. The only ones that were a bit pricey were the long screws on the generator cover but even then they weren't outrageous.

Another place for metric hardware is Maryland Metrics. Confusing website from the '90s but a good supply of hardware.

Re: Engine bolts opinions?

Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2017 12:23 am
by Bare
Buy ...Complete ...Socket head sets for specific Engines here: http://www.microdaddy.co.uk/norbo/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I once went and assembled / bought my own set of SS socket heads. Got more than few Wrong too.. Grrr.
Ended up costing more trhan 3X! what Norbo charges and shippings from the UK would have been.
Lesson learned

Re: Engine bolts opinions?

Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2017 8:45 am
by T.RexRacing
Ah I work on other people's bikes so the extras will get used anyway.

Re: Engine bolts opinions?

Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2017 2:44 pm
by whyzee79
Bought an ebay stainless set for a bike and it was really nice. All bolts labeled and bagged made the job easy and looks great too.

Re: Engine bolts opinions?

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 7:56 pm
by Hooligan
A nice set of SS head bolts look 100% better than the old corroded OEM bolts. :D

Re: Engine bolts opinions?

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 11:34 pm
by T.RexRacing
I'm not a fan of stainless in a stressed application. Looking good in the back of the truck doesn't work for me.

Re: Engine bolts opinions?

Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 12:10 am
by Hooligan
I use stainless in pressure applications that would make an internal combustion engine look like a kids balloon with respect to pressure. I'm talking thousands of psi to tens of thousands of psi and it works just fine.