# How to stop bolts rusting?



## Frenchy0204 (Jul 22, 2009)

Hi guys!

I've been spending the last couple of months tidying up the cosmetics on my Honda, and I will soon be tackling the engine bay. I have a wire wheel in my garage, so will be taking off bolts here and there and cleaning them up to make them look like new.

I was wondering if you guys could advise me on stuff I could use to stop them rusting, as obviously they will rust pretty quickly. Are there any products I could use to spray over the bolts that will protect them? Bare in mind, these are engine bay bolts so will get rather hot.

Kind Regards,
Nathan 

P.S, I will also be painting parts too. If any of you have paint suggestions for things like the rocker cover/brackets etc, then that will be great!


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## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

tried to fight rusty bolts n nuts for years on my cars ...then i decided to sling em and replace with stainless , no more problems

ought to be about able to most stuff that matters /shows for £30-40

just be aware theyre not high tensile no dont use on brakes /suspension or any high stress area


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## Shug (Jul 13, 2007)

Eastwood do a high temperature lacquer. I think swissvax do as well, tho its probably twice the price!


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

Get stainless ones.


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## stantheman (Dec 23, 2010)

Another vote for stainless!:thumb:


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## Frenchy0204 (Jul 22, 2009)

Thanks for the advice, but there's no way on earth I'm going to start finding out the sizes of these bolts and then ordering loads of stainless ones. Guess I will just have to leave it. Thanks anyway guys.


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## OCDDetailer (May 17, 2011)

I use Carplan matt black engine lacquer to paint parts in my engine bay, its heat resistant, good stuff.


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## ST_150 (May 3, 2011)

another vote for stainless bolts


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## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

Frenchy0204 said:


> Thanks for the advice, but there's no way on earth I'm going to start finding out the sizes of these bolts and then ordering loads of stainless ones. Guess I will just have to leave it. Thanks anyway guys.


but you'd be prepared to go round cleaning rust off each one and painting one some magic fluid ?

theres not that many differant sizes , lengths might vary a bit


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## jebus (Jun 2, 2009)

get stainless for anything that's not in a high stress area, but brakes, suspension and anything important like that use the proper bolts, i know stainless comes in different grades so might be possiable to find bolts that are safe to use in such situations, but its hard, would be cheaper to zinc plate them with the little kits from the likes of Frost auto restores. Or clean and paint the whole areas, dab of copper grease on threads, and clear anti rust wax over everything, i am sure bilt hammer do a product just for that.


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## Dixondmn (Oct 12, 2007)

I use this on the exposed bolts on my garden furniture, it all looks like new after 5 years
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_214714_langId_-1_categoryId_255223


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## Paddy_R (Jan 10, 2007)

I use ACF50 on my motorbike. It's kept outside and its a Suzuki and no rusty bolts yet (over two years) so it must work. It's a simple spray on and walk away.


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## Mean & clean (Aug 19, 2007)

My car is off the road for the winter and I'm replacing all of my engine compartment fixings to stainless at my leisure.

It makes such a difference, I have the advantage of being able to get the bolts from work for free, but even I couldn't do that I would rather order the bolts than faff around buffing the old ones up and painting them! 

A good paint for the engine bay would be hammerite. I've got smooth silver and smooth black for my engine and axles.


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## wayne10244 (Aug 24, 2008)

But be warned if using stainless bolts in alloy put grease on the thread as it can weld it self to the alloy ?


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## Strothow (Oct 29, 2009)

Stainless or copper slip.


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## rtjc (Apr 19, 2009)

What bolts are you refering to in your Honda engine bay? You can get various different coloured anodised ones for wings, front panels, radiator mounts, brackets etc. very common with the Honda folks.


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## RedUntilDead (Feb 10, 2009)

wayne10244 said:


> But be warned if using stainless bolts in alloy put grease on the thread as it can weld it self to the alloy ?


so can steel!


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## Teddy (Dec 15, 2007)

Just buy normal standard bolts from the dealer. A slight covering in grease at most and they'll take an eternity to corrode.


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## Reckless (Jul 25, 2011)

Also any stainless bolts into steel will rot the steel in no time!!! may look good to start with but with flaking rusty metal around them, no thanks.


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## JK-BHLab (Jul 23, 2010)

jebus said:


> get stainless for anything that's not in a high stress area, but brakes, suspension and anything important like that use the proper bolts, i know stainless comes in different grades so might be possiable to find bolts that are safe to use in such situations, but its hard, would be cheaper to zinc plate them with the little kits from the likes of Frost auto restores. Or clean and paint the whole areas, dab of copper grease on threads, and clear anti rust wax over everything, i am sure bilt hammer do a product just for that.


Dynax UC!:thumb:


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## Frenchy0204 (Jul 22, 2009)

rtjc said:


> What bolts are you refering to in your Honda engine bay? You can get various different coloured anodised ones for wings, front panels, radiator mounts, brackets etc. very common with the Honda folks.


Pretty much every bolt, varying from the wing bolts all the way to alternator mount bolts and stuff.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will see if my local motor factor has anything I can use to spray on.

And yes Mr.Sparkle, I would rather clean up the bolts instead of using stainless ones...My bench grinder can clean them up in less than two seconds!


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

In addition to the various products already mentioned that sprang to my mind here (I won't list them all again), this http://www.raceglaze.co.uk/car-care-exterior/metal-chrome/race-glaze-jet-laq-non-paint-laquer/ also seemed to lend itself to your particular needs.

Now I've not used it myself, so this isn't a recommendation (I don't do that for anything I've not tried personally), it's simply something I'm aware of out there that seemed to fit the bill :thumb:

I would also say that large hardware suppliers like Screwfix, Toolstation and the like are normally pretty competitive for nuts and bolts (both for High Tensile and Stainless, and a word to the wise here about the former: make sure you know your 8.8s from your 10.9s when it comes to 'High Tensile' as everything simply marked up as such isn't the same  Know your grades and replace like with like).

Often, if you've a lot to replace, one of the 'selection boxes' is a more cost effective option and you'll have everything from tiny M4 sized up to M12, which will cover pretty much everything in an engine bay :thumb:


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## Frenchy0204 (Jul 22, 2009)

VIPER said:


> In addition to the various products already mentioned that sprang to my mind here (I won't list them all again), this http://www.raceglaze.co.uk/car-care-exterior/metal-chrome/race-glaze-jet-laq-non-paint-laquer/ also seemed to lend itself to your particular needs.
> 
> Now I've not used it myself, so this isn't a recommendation (I don't do that for anything I've not tried personally), it's simply something I'm aware of out there that seemed to fit the bill :thumb:
> 
> ...


Sorry for the large bump. The restoration on this will be starting very soon, so I wanted to ask you a couple of questions about this product as it seems ideal.

1. If I have read that right, is this a spray that I can put onto the bolts that have been cleaned up (therefore bare metal) which will then stop them from rusting?

2. If so, what kind of durability can I expect from this product and does it have any resistance to heat at all?

Kind Regards,
Nathan

EDIT: D'OH! Stupid me...just noticed there is a description at the bottom that answers my questions. Sorry about that!


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## georgey2011 (Oct 24, 2011)

Just make sure you dont start removing anything thats bolted to something else with a gasket or the like in the middle, even removing one bolt at a time can disturb the seal, been there and failed with that one being a tart with shiny anodised engine bolts ! lol


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## greenwagon (Dec 31, 2008)

Could be worth doing a search on a Honda car club forum 
Eg subaru at the moment one of the club lads has put together a group buy for all the engine bolts for £20
The last group buy had over 200 joined up to order bolts so I would imagine Honda forums are Similer


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## Phil H (May 14, 2006)

Either, 
Change for stainless or
Clean and coat the bolt or metal with acf50 or
Paint the heads with artists brush and smooth silver


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