Best way to clean and sort used bolts.

[JDNs78FJ40]

I had the best results with a bench wire wheel and a lot of patience. For the really dirty ones I used carb cleaner to knock the grime off or loosen it up. A bolt kit would have saved me a lot of time but I like the look of the original hardware.

 

[Spike Strip]

Here’s what I’ve used for years on buckets of bolts. And it works great. It’s a homemade recipe called ED’S RED.


A) DEXRON 11 ATF
B) KEROSENE
C) MINERAL SPIRTS
D) ACETONE

Just buying these chemicals in Kalifornia will get the Police showing up at your door!

 

[Spike Strip]

And I can verify quality at www.vannuysplating.com Van Nuys Plating

They do small-batch mail order. They do work for TLC4x4 and Corsetti Cruisers.

 

[Nader]

This talk of bolt restoration is all well and good, but at the risk of hijacking this thread, which one of you guys with bucket loads of restored OEM bolts is willing to sell me some of their stuff?

 

[Spike Strip]

Overland Metric | JIS Hardware

At Overland Metric we've spent the last seven years learning the business of Toyota Land Cruiser and JIS hardware. In 2016 we expanded the business from Full Vehicle Kits to include Stainless Kits and Bulk Hardware. We spent six months with manufactures to duplicate OEM hardware as closely as...

www.overlandmetric.com

 

[Dagha Boy]

The proof that it's all in the prep. These items all plated in the same bath but the bolt, nut and washer were shiny smooth before going in, the bracket not so much and the spring was sandblast rough.

 

[yotadude520]

If you're just looking to clean stuff up - I've used original Pine Sol in the past. I soaked the carburetor from my old Ford in it for a day or so and after a quick wipe down everything looked great and ready to go back together. The grime just fell off.

Before

After

 

[middlecalf]

I’ve used pinesol on carbs but after they’re disassembled, not so good on rubber and gaskets.

 

[tstepp920]

For hardware that is really greasy I use wax remover (paint prep) in a wide mouthed Gatorade bottle. Shake, soak, repeat. Then after drying I toss them into a Harbor Freight 15lb tumbler with their walnut shell media. Let a batch run for 24hrs and they come out all clean and satin finished. Sift in a colander (not your wife’s nice one) and blow clean with compressed air.

For a factory fresh finish, i media blasted the bolt/screw heads as walnut shell media/gunk gets trapped in there. Any imperfections will be magnified after plating.

The only local place to me that does small batches will dip clean and de-rust before plating but it didn’t remove everything.

View attachment 2164975

What is the name of the "local" place. Durham is not to far away.

 

[S4Cruiser]

What is the name of the "local" place. Durham is not to far away.

It’s in downtown Greensboro. Shoot me a PM as a reminder and I’ll send you the contact details...I need to look.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

75% Diesel/ 25% ATF in a croc pot at medium heat for 4 hours. Do it outside. Spoon shows after. Don’t tell the wife.

 

[Toyoland66]

Has anyone tried rotary or vibratory tumbling with stainless steel pin media? People have good luck with that for cleaning up dirty brass for reloading. It seems like it could replicate the results of wire brushing but with a lot less labor, and if you wet tumbled with solvent mixed with atf or something similar it wouldn’t have the risk of rusting between cleaning and plating. I assume the plating process involves degreasing that would remove that light film.

Example of the media:
Amazon product ASIN B07PWDZZC8

 

[Dagha Boy]

I am about to embark on setting up a DIY zinc plating project which will include and test several degreasing and "tumbler" polishing processes and machines. All aimed at minimum actual physical time consuming cleaning of individual parts. I have been thinking and planning for about a year. I surprised myself a few weeks back when I was using the clothes dryer and realized that if one just riveted a few pieces of thin steel into the drum to block all the air holes, it is a ready made tumbler with no other mods needed apart from disconnecting the heater elements. And old discarded ones are available cheaply all over. No need to reinvent the wheel for that part of the process.

 

[lions66]

Many bolts I remove are so worn I am happy that they were able to be removed without breaking, Wouldn't trust to reuse them. The thermostat housing bolts were about half the thickness in the middle so replaced.

 

[ToyotaMatt]

none of this is necessary any more ...........

its obsolete .

 

[ToyotaMatt]

if you don't, believe in unicorns , hopefully the first photos will help you to .....

i saw one on my desk while taking this shot ...

 

[1911]

75% Diesel/ 25% ATF in a croc pot at medium heat for 4 hours. Do it outside. Spoon shows after. Don’t tell the wife.

Two houses ago, I baked paint on a (clean I thought) motorcycle oil tank and some other parts in the kitchen oven. The house smelled like solvent and 60-weight oil for a month or more. Needless to say, the mrs. was not happy.

 

[Dagha Boy]

Yup. But there are many other bits and pieces that need cleaning and plating. Besides, here where I am I do not have access to your unicorns and us Africans are poor and Al Gore says we must recycle...