Chrome

[azazelakira]

So I notice that things that get old start getting rust, I hate rust.
I was thinking on buying a kit to re-chrome bolts and small parts but they contain acids and I need polishing wheels and motors for this polishers.
Sending this to re-chrome will be another $2k and months of waiting.
What do you guys would do?
Buy individual screws and little parts?
Get the re-chrome kit?
Send to a Chrome shop the parts?

[Designer]

That is an issue with chromed bolts/screws. The tools used to tighten them crack off the Plating...then the rust you mention sets in..

I switched all my fasteners to Stainless Steel. And in keeping with the European High-Tech styling I wanted, ..socket heads.

viewtopic.php?f=48&t=1193&start=125

[sgtcall]

I remember seeing a VS1400 stainless steel bolt kit one time. It was a couple hundred bolts that were supposed to replace all the noticeable ones on the Intruder.

Redoing the chrome is not really worth the expense.

[Tbeck]

Yoshimura "stain magic" and some clean cloth and/or a Dremel polishing wheel.
A tube of the stain magic is very expensive but it removes just about anything and polish's up very nice. I'm sure everyone has seen the brown and black/blue pipe headers on BMW motorcycles, and this stuff was created to make it go away and restore the pipes to their original stainless or chrome color.
I've used it to clean up the headers on both of my beemers and I only use a cloth to apply and buff them clean. I believe there's a video showing how well it works on YouTube.

[navigator]

Not sure about rusty bolts, but Turtle Wax chrome polish with rust remover cleans pitted chrome pretty good.
For blue headers, I use Blue Job.

[azazelakira]

That is an issue with chromed bolts/screws. The tools used to tighten them crack off the Plating...then the rust you mention sets in..

I switched all my fasteners to Stainless Steel. And in keeping with the European High-Tech styling I wanted, ..socket heads.

viewtopic.php?f=48&t=1193&start=125

I will look for them

[azazelakira]

I remember seeing a VS1400 stainless steel bolt kit one time. It was a couple hundred bolts that were supposed to replace all the noticeable ones on the Intruder.

Redoing the chrome is not really worth the expense.

Yeah it gets up there just for the bolts to look pretty

[hillsy v2]

You can get stainless engine bolt kits on eBay pretty cheap:





https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/26327247682 ... R_LQ1bneYw

[sgtcall]

You can get stainless engine bolt kits on eBay pretty cheap:

I'd say that would be a good deal.

[hillsy v2]

You can get stainless engine bolt kits on eBay pretty cheap:

I'd say that would be a good deal.

Yep - 80 bolts for just under $40. Cheaper than you could buy them for from a bolt supplier.

[Tbeck]

The problem is that as soon as your tool starts applying torque to those stainless bolt's, you'll be no better off because they will rust. I don't believe they've come up with an anti rust bolt yet.

[hillsy v2]

The problem is that as soon as your tool starts applying torque to those stainless bolt's, you'll be no better off because they will rust. I don't believe they've come up with an anti rust bolt yet.

T - they are stainless steel, not chrome plated.

[Tbeck]

Yep and they will rust hills.

[Designer]

Stainless Steel resists rust mainly because of it's high Chromium and Nickel content.

Halides are one of the most serious causes of stainless steel rust. Halides include chloride, fluoride, bromide, iodide and some inter-halogen compounds. Chloride is the most common in nature and daily life and as we know, is widely present in salt, sauce, physiological saline, bleach, disinfectant, salt water lake, and sea water, etc. If stainless steel is polluted by these factors for a long time and is not cleaned in time, it will rust or tarnish. Other things such as long-term exposure to inorganic acids such as nitric acid, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid, etc. Organic acids such as acetic acid, formic acid, Alkaline such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH), can cause it to rust.

There are some grades made that have low chromium/nickel content that tend to rust easier that others when exposed to these harsh chemicals. However, the overwhelmingly vast majority of Stainless Steel fasteners are not of that grade and are not usually exposed to those chemicals on a motorcycle,...unlike say, on an ocean-going vessel.

So,....the overwhelmingly vast majority of Stainless Steel fasters on a Motorcycle Will Not Rust.

[MadCow]

Stainless Steel resists rust mainly because of it's high Chromium and Nickel content.

Halides are one of the most serious causes of stainless steel rust. Halides include chloride, fluoride, bromide, iodide and some inter-halogen compounds. Chloride is the most common in nature and daily life and as we know, is widely present in salt, sauce, physiological saline, bleach, disinfectant, salt water lake, and sea water, etc. If stainless steel is polluted by these factors for a long time and is not cleaned in time, it will rust or tarnish. Other things such as long-term exposure to inorganic acids such as nitric acid, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid, etc. Organic acids such as acetic acid, formic acid, Alkaline such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH), can cause it to rust.

There are some grades made that have low chromium/nickel content that tend to rust easier that others when exposed to these harsh chemicals. However, the overwhelmingly vast majority of Stainless Steel fasteners are not of that grade and are not usually exposed to those chemicals on a motorcycle,...unlike say, on an ocean-going vessel.

So,....the overwhelmingly vast majority of Stainless Steel fasters on a Motorcycle Will Not Rust.

https://www.forgedproduct.com/forging-m ... ily%20life.

[Designer]

Thank you MadCow for posting the link to the Professional Article on this subject.
Being in a hurry at the time, I'd not done so,...as I usually I do so as to provide an Experts Definitive information on a topic of discussion.

This sort of Chemical/Technical info is what I'd researched before converting all the fasteners on my Chopper to Stainless Steel back 19 years ago.

[hillsy v2]

It's funny how stainless has been to go to metal in marine applications for decades.

Of course, as pointed out, there are different grades of stainless - and usually the cheaper stuff can contain corrosive elements.

Generally speaking though - stainless hardware in auto applications doesn't rust.

[sgtcall]

It's funny how stainless has been to go to metal in marine applications for decades.

Of course, as pointed out, there are different grades of stainless - and usually the cheaper stuff can contain corrosive elements.

Generally speaking though - stainless hardware in auto applications doesn't rust.

Most of the exposed bolts on my Triumph are stainless. One thing about that, stainless doesn't mix well with aluminum. My neighbor is a machinists that has made custom parts for jet fighters and even the space shuttle. I was changing out the shift peg on the Triumph one day, easy job right, stainless bolt going into a aluminum arm, and the bolt was completely stuck. I ended up snapping it off. He told me aluminum will bond to stainless over time and make getting the two apart hard. But then he took my shifter arm home and an hour later had it good as new and even cut me a new bolt to go with it.

[hillsy v2]

It's funny how stainless has been to go to metal in marine applications for decades.

Of course, as pointed out, there are different grades of stainless - and usually the cheaper stuff can contain corrosive elements.

Generally speaking though - stainless hardware in auto applications doesn't rust.

Most of the exposed bolts on my Triumph are stainless. One thing about that, stainless doesn't mix well with aluminum. My neighbor is a machinists that has made custom parts for jet fighters and even the space shuttle. I was changing out the shift peg on the Triumph one day, easy job right, stainless bolt going into a aluminum arm, and the bolt was completely stuck. I ended up snapping it off. He told me aluminum will bond to stainless over time and make getting the two apart hard. But then he took my shifter arm home and an hour later had it good as new and even cut me a new bolt to go with it.

There's Never Seize for the ones you want to get out again....and red Loctite for the ones you don't....

And for anything else that's not a bolt....

[sgtcall]

My neighbor said to use no-lock or never seize but I could also use blue Loctite . The blue gives it a firm hold but keeps the two from bonding.