Bolt rust

[afd660]

Apologies if I'm posting in the wrong place, I see the most people in the Roadster section than anywhere else. My garage isnt the best place for humidity and stuff. Just wondering if theres a way to treat bolts that have surface corrosion without having to remove and re-dip them or anything like that. Not looking for anything "thick" like POR 15 or the Eastwood stuff they usually put on frames and rear ends.

[narly1]

If in they're clean, rust-free state Sharkhide or a similar product, Nyalic.

Earl

[Norm B]

I live on the East coast and things rust overnight if left unprotected. Rust Check rust converter seems to work very well. I use the liquid (not the spray can), wear rubber gloves and just wipe the area with a rag soaked in the stuff. Rinse it off with distilled water after it has hardened. It provides a paintable surface but is also good to be left unpainted. Turns the rusted metal black which I like.
Haven’t had it discolour anything else but, I am careful to get it only on the desired surface and wipe down the surrounding areas with a damp rag after application.

Norm

[PNWTim]

You could also systematically replace the various nuts and bolts with stainless. I am not sure it's worth trying to remove the rust and then treat them in situ. If you have to remove them to do so I would just replace.

[JohnK]

If you can remove them, you can soak them in Evapo-Rust to clean them up and then hit them with some black or clear spray paint. Honestly though, I'd toss them and replace them with SS. I replaced pretty much every black oxide fastener that came in the kit with SS to prevent this exact thing from happening.

Just a quick note of caution with SS - use anti-seize. Always. Especially when combining a SS bolt with a nyloc nut. That's a virtual guarantee of galling without anti-seize.

[PNWTim]

Thanks for that reminder John. Although when I use anti-seize I manage to coat everything and myself...

[Mike.Bray]

Although when I use anti-seize I manage to coat everything and myself...

https://www.imagecoast.com/images/MichaelBray1/fbimg1481817978892a50586b6fb60fb4486a2802489fb8373 7559dfd0.jpg

[CraigS]

The problem w/ SS bolts etc is that the commonly available hardware store SS is weak steel. And it galls. That means that an SS bolt and an SS nut become almost permanently attached. Over the years I have had much better success w/ common grade 5 bolts and nuts w/ whatever the most common coating is. A year or so ago I had a small tree fall on my utility trailer. Since it sat outside it had walls built of 3/8" PVC sheet and SS 1/4" nuts and bolts. The walls were about 3 yrs old at the time and I needed to disassemble some to replace them. At least half of those bolts and nuts would only come apart by twisting until the bolt failed. At this point I will not use SS on anything. BTW I am with Mike on antiseize. I use bearing grease instead. I know it may not be as long lasting but I hate trying to get something apart and finding my fingers and maybe tools w/ a silver coating that can't be removed w/o a solvent.

[BrewCityCobra]

Apologies if I'm posting in the wrong place, I see the most people in the Roadster section than anywhere else. My garage isnt the best place for humidity and stuff. Just wondering if theres a way to treat bolts that have surface corrosion without having to remove and re-dip them or anything like that. Not looking for anything "thick" like POR 15 or the Eastwood stuff they usually put on frames and rear ends.

So this drives me crazy as well - and like your situation the Wisconsin season changes mean any black-oxide bolts provided by FFR are insta-rusted on my build well before even getting to drive the finished product. I don't know of any treatments, but I have just been swapping each bolt out with a stainless counterpart as I see them. So far so good aside from my wallet.

[F500guy]

Go for the plated or anodized, not as purty but work better than the black oxide.

[Dgc333]

Interesting, I didn't get a single black oxide finished fastener with my 33 kit. All the Grade 5 fasteners were zinc plated, the Grade 8 fasteners were zinc plated with a yellow chromate finish and the 8.8 metric had a dull silver finish that I am not sure what it is. The smaller fasteners had flanged button socket heads were made of what I presume to be 8-18 stainless.

[Mike.Bray]

I use bearing grease instead. I know it may not be as long lasting but I hate trying to get something apart and finding my fingers and maybe tools w/ a silver coating that can't be removed w/o a solvent.

Any lubricant is better than nothing. However, anti-seize works because it has solid particles in it to separate stainless surfaces. Stainless on stainless galls so it's important to keep them separated.

[JohnK]

I feel like the whole "anti-seize gets all over everything every time you open the bottle" has turned into a meme, and I'm guilty of having made that that joke myself. But as Mike points out, it's the right tool for the job. If you're so worried about getting it on your hands, just put a pair of disposable gloves on when you're using it.

[Dgc333]

I retired several years ago but the 16 years prior to that I was an engineer at Lockheed Martin. Our facility produced items for the Navy. We used "Food Grade" anti-seize on all fasteners that may come in contact with sea water. The food grade anti-seize is intended to be used on stainless steel fasteners used in the food processing industry because it was non toxic. Anyway, it worked very well even after being exposed to sea water. Plus, it does not make s mess and is easy to clean up.

[Mike.Bray]

I retired several years ago but the 16 years prior to that I was an engineer at Lockheed Martin. Our facility produced items for the Navy. We used "Food Grade" anti-seize on all fasteners that may come in contact with sea water. The food grade anti-seize is intended to be used on stainless steel fasteners used in the food processing industry because it was non toxic. Anyway, it worked very well even after being exposed to sea water. Plus, it does not make s mess and is easy to clean up.

100 percent what you said. Being in the food industry my entire life I'm very familiar with food grade anti-seize. Great stuff.

https://www.imagecoast.com/images/MichaelBray1/image1.png

[J R Jones]

Fastener corrosion can be galvanic corrosion:
Galvanic corrosion occurs when two dissimilar metals are in electrical contact and immersed in a conductive solution (electrolyte), such as saltwater or moisture.

Or it can be crevis corrosion:
Crevice corrosion happens when an electrolyte (a substance that can conduct electricity, like salty water) becomes trapped in crevices, cracks, or joints on a metal surface.

I did development engineering for Mercury Marine, we had a corrosion department and test lab on the Gulf Coast. The staff on the Gulf supporting endurance testing would not reassemble anything without Permatex #2 or #3 on the threads.
Permatex Form-A-Gasket #2 Sealant is a slow-drying, non-hardening sealant designed for sealing cut gaskets and stamped parts.
The Permatex acted as a lubricant when wet and a slight thread lock when dry. Most importantly it fills the gaps between male and female threads. I prefer the tubes of Permatex which I get on my fingers but it is not as messy as anti-seize for me.
jim

[42Bfast]

This is only indirectly relevant to your initial question, but wanted to offer what I’ve learned living on the gulf coast near water. High humidity (80%+) is almost year round here with only a few short weeks in the spring and fall where it gets below 60%, and even then the breaks are not continuous. That level of continuous humidity is tough on tools, metals, and even can grow mold on carpet and upholstery.
What I’ve learned is that if you have a garage or shop that stays closed a good amount of the time, a dehumidifier is a necessity. Keeping that humidity down to around 50% will make a huge difference.
The tighter the building the more effective a dehumidifier will be, but also it is more necessary
You can monitor the humidity with a very inexpensive hydrometer to let you know what you are dealing with.
As far as the dehumidifier, likely a simple home 50 pint unit will work for most shops. ($200-$300). You just need a 110 power supply and a way to continuously drain the water.
Oh, don’t think that an air conditioner will do the job. It won’t, except maybe in the middle of summer. Simple reason is in the mild temperature, it doesn’t run. For example, today here in Pensacola, it was 70 degrees and 80% humidity. An AC is controlled by temperature not humidity. At 70 degrees outside the AC is not going to run enough to pull down the humidity. Thus, you need a dehumidifier that senses humidity and runs anytime it gets above a specific percentage. (Recommend 50%)
This isn’t an answer to your specific question but maybe it can help limit the problem. Hope you find it useful.

[Valkster]

I know this is not a solution for after-the-fact, but if you replace them with similar fasteners, I'd suggest spraying clear coat on them. I did this with both an old Jeep CJ and Triumph Spitfire restorations I did, and both are still like new years later. Find a clear finish that reflects as close to the original finish you are covering (gloss, semi-gloss, satin, etc). Wipe the fasteners with a degreaser and rubbing alcohol and give them a few light coats. I know zinc isn't a good substrate for paint, but it does work. I even clear coated the alternators and starters with a clear finish that is really close to the factory finish and years later look great (kept them from turning grey and retaining dirt/grime).

-Mark

[i.e.427]

A little WD-40. Spray it on a rag and wipe down the exposed bolts once or twice a year. Done!

Frank