Pros and cons to using Brass Hardware?

[Guest]

Im about to start my winter tear down on my GS1000 cafe project. Im going with a Black, silver, and gold paint scheme and was looking at all of the rusty/nasty bolts that are currently on the bike. I know I can buy SS allen heads but I was thinking about trying to locate Brass/brass plated bolts to replace the existing ones and polish them all up. Are there any cons to using brass? Which bolts cant be brass due to strength, etc?

Plating: I was looking at the caswel plating kit since I have some other parts that I want to nickle plate as well. I know they sell a brass kit and Im sure its just a matter of solution but, what kind of durrability can I expect out of plated bolts? Is this going to be a maintenance item, pulling them all off and re-polishing them?

Source: Does anyone have a source where I can buy brass bolts?

[GregT]

There are a lot of cons to using brass fasteners on a bike which is not a display only custom...
It's very soft - strips readily - I'd only use brass fasteners for holding on soft components eg plastic panels.
It tarnishes quickly - Ga has a seacoast if I remember my US geography and salt air is no good for a polished finish.
Supply - yachts and small boats use a lot of brass fasteners but if you're looking for metric I suspect it'll be a long search.

Coloured anodised aluminium fasteners are a better way to go IMO

[DrImodium]

Coloured anodised aluminium fasteners are a better way to go IMO

What about plating?

[Curly]

Gotta think of price too. That stuff can't be cheap.

[Nessism]

There are a lot of cons to using brass fasteners on a bike which is not a display only custom...
It's very soft - strips readily - I'd only use brass fasteners for holding on soft components eg plastic panels.
It tarnishes quickly - Ga has a seacoast if I remember my US geography and salt air is no good for a polished finish.
Supply - yachts and small boats use a lot of brass fasteners but if you're looking for metric I suspect it'll be a long search.

Coloured anodised aluminium fasteners are a better way to go IMO

I wouldn't use aluminum fasteners either. Not strong enough for structural support, plus expensive.

[81GS750]

I have used the Caswel plating kits before, (did some gold plating on gun parts). It held up well, but you have to polish the part prior to plating and it has to be 100% clean or the plating will not stick. Also, I would use some sort of sealant over the plating to protect from tarnishing. It would be a very time consuming job to plate each bolt with the wand like the kits have. So, I'd suggest rigging up a small tank and dip them. I ended up getting a universal ac/dc converter with selectable voltage and polarity from Radio Shack.

[GregT]

I wouldn't use aluminum fasteners either. Not strong enough for structural support, plus expensive.

There are a number of kits on the market with alloy fasteners for retaining fairings - and kits for sidecover screws too. But yes structural use is really a no-no.
Some of the kits say 7075T6 - maybe they are but sidecovers are about as structural as I'd get for a road bike.

Plating is definitely a possibility but polishing prior to plating would be very time consuming.

[Do Little]

What about the goldish colored bolts they sell at the hardware store? I think they're zinc plated, polished up they'd probably look pretty good and they're durable since they're plated steel. And they're readily available in a lot of differnt sizes. I'm not sure if there'd be any cons to using these, maybe some other guys could chime in.

[81GS750]

As long as they are the same grade bolt as the original it shouldn't matter.

[Flatline_Racing]

You could pop your bolts through some cardboard and paint the heads with some KG gunkote in gold or copper.

[Big T]

You could pop your bolts through some cardboard and paint the heads with some KG gunkote in gold or copper.

That's probably the best solution, but I'm guessing paint is not what you're looking for

You could gold anodise, but that would be spendy

Maybe get some bolts of a Midnight Special - didn't they use gold fasteners?

[Dave8338]

Another option is to use alan head fasteners and buy the head inserts. They can be had in many colors and are easy to install and remove. I have used them on previous projects and they can be purchased at any hardley shop on the planet or online.

http://www.xtremebargains.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5_833_12&products_id=14096

[ddaniels]

They do make gold colored grade 8 screws.

[salty_monk]

What about the goldish colored bolts they sell at the hardware store? I think they're zinc plated, polished up they'd probably look pretty good and they're durable since they're plated steel. And they're readily available in a lot of differnt sizes. I'm not sure if there'd be any cons to using these, maybe some other guys could chime in.

These are zinc plated steel with a yellow passivate in the solution. The yellow passivate gives them a much better corrosion protection than BZP (bright zinc plate which is the silver with the blueish tint) so they are a good option if the look is right... You can't really polish them though, the plating will be thin, you'll polish through it I would think.

Caswell do a yellow passivate.... getting a good finish takes some work though. Nessism has one of those kits. Do a search for a thread on some bolts he has plated.

[themess]

Brass will corrode before steel. I'm too lazy right now to check the tables, but it also might corrode before aluminum does.

Fasteners should be made to fasten properly. Put your farkles somewhere that doesn't matter.