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Car Forum / MINI / May 2004Nuts and bolts?
Hello, all! I've just got a '74 Mini, in dire need of major welding and overhaul. Hence this peculiar question: Does anyone have a list of dimensions and threading on the various nuts and bolts on a Mini? I live in a metric country (Norway) and getting hold of those pesky little things in Imperial sizes is a royal pain in the tailpipe! If anyone could give me an estimate of what sizes I need and how frequent the different sizes are, I could have an old mate of mine in the UK run to the nearest hardware store and compile a set for me. Unfortunately, he is somewhat, er, mechanically challenged, so the best thing would be to give him a shopping list... One more thing: <Whisper> Does anyone know where I can find the Haynes manuals in an electronic format?</Whisper> Cheers, RustEater A good place to start may be here... http://www.minimall.co.uk/sac/ The Muffin Man > Hello, all! > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > RustEater > A good place to start may be here... > > http://www.minimall.co.uk/sac/ > > The Muffin Man Indeed a good place, albeit on the steep side pricewise... And they forgot to list the dimensions! Is it such a grand idea to use stainless steel bolts? In Norway the roads are salted during the winter. This means that our cars are regularly soaked in brine. If you have a stainless bolt threaded into mild steel, the resulting galvanic corrosion would attack the mild steel with a vengeance. On the other hand, if you use a zinc plated 8.8 bolt, the zinc would play the part of a sacrificial anode, thus saving the steel in both the bolt and whatever the bolt was threaded into. My knowledge of galvanic corrosion is a bit rusty (snigger), so I'm not sure what timeframes we are talking about here, but the basics are correct. Have you heard anything about long term use of stainless bolts? Cheers, RustEater > Is it such a grand idea to use stainless steel bolts? In Norway the roads > are salted during the winter. This means that our cars are regularly [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > RustEater No, it's not a good idea to stainless steel fixings. You are quite right about the problems with corrosion. Don't use stainless steel fixings. Use the Zinc plated ones that are designed for the job.  SignatureRgds Steve steve@dsnclassics.co.uk www.dsnclassics.co.uk One thing is why do the construction industry and marine industries use stainless fastenings and fixings into steel bodies and have been doing for a long time. My employer just had fitted a new all singing all dancing good lift fitted right inside a roller shutter door which is open during the day. The frame is box section steel but all the fastenings are A2 graded stainless steel. We have a lot of machinery with steel and alloy components which are held together with Stainless A2 fixings and are subjected to warm air, saline solutions, and liquid polymeric materials which has got to be just as bad as the outside world for a breading ground for tin worm and we have very few problems. Stainless steel has a number of factors for and against, as long as you use graded fixings for general applications you should not have to many issues. it is when you fit bolts to areas where specific high tensile steels bolts where originally fitted internal engine components, brakes, will you get major problems. Most nuts you fit on your car are not high tensile steel and you would probably find they are a standard graded steel. > > Is it such a grand idea to use stainless steel bolts? In Norway the roads > > are salted during the winter. This means that our cars are regularly [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > about the problems with corrosion. Don't use stainless steel fixings. Use > the Zinc plated ones that are designed for the job. Tell me what bolts you think you will need and I can despatch them direct to your friend I am a partner in C&A Fastenings Ltd we supply grade A2 stainless fixings to classic car owners, We only supply imperial sizes and have most items in stock and a better price than some other companies. an example of price, rear subframe mounting kits which is the bolts and nuts to fit a rear subframe is a kit start at ?11.60 and there are two types using either nyloc nuts or nuts and spring washers. We are based in Southampton, England for enquiries email sales@c-and-a-fastenings.co.uk or adavenport@focus-technology.co.uk We are nuts about classics > Hello, all! > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > RustEater > Hello, all! > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > of those pesky little things in Imperial sizes is a royal pain in the > tailpipe! Minis almost exclusively use UNF bolts, with a handful of UNC (coarse thread) bolts into aluminium castings such as the gearbox housing. For example, the really common size on a Mini is 5/16"UNF. These are the bolts about 8mm in diameter which use a 1/2"AF spanner (and a 13mm spanner is only 0.3mm toolarge and works fine). The next size down is 1/4"UNF, using a 7/16"AF spanner. 1/4" is a whisker over 6mm. The next size up is of course 3/8" UNF (about 10mm), and sizes above or below these are relatively rare. As an engineer, I'm deeply sceptical about using stainless fasteners in place of high tensile bolts or anywhere where crevice corrosion might occur. >> Hello, all! >> [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > place of high tensile bolts or anywhere where crevice corrosion might > occur. Thank you, Graham! Now I know what to look for! A good handful of each of the most common sizes, and every ruined bolt will merely be an inconvenience rather than a disaster... Brilliant! As to the stainless fastener discussion, I'll start a new thread (snigger!) and hope someone can shed some enlightenment... Happy screwing, RustEater One thing is why do the construction industry and marine industries use stainless fastenings and fixings into steel bodies and have been doing for a long time. My employer just had fitted a new all singing all dancing good lift fitted right inside a roller shutter door which is open during the day. The frame is box section steel but all the fastenings are A2 graded stainless steel. We have a lot of machinery with steel and alloy components which are held together with Stainless A2 fixings and are subjected to warm air, saline solutions, and liquid polymeric materials which has got to be just as bad as the outside world for a breading ground for tin worm and we have very few problems. Stainless steel has a number of factors for and against, as long as you use graded fixings for general applications you should not have to many issues. it is when you fit bolts to areas where specific high tensile steels bolts where originally fitted internal engine components, brakes, will you get major problems. Most nuts you fit on your car are not high tensile steel and you would probably find they are a standard graded steel. > > Hello, all! > > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > place of high tensile bolts or anywhere where crevice corrosion might > occur. |
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