Metric Nuts & Bolts advice sought ?

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I have a lifetimes accumulation of nuts, bolts, washers,spacers etc all A/F thread with even a few Whitworth & BSP.

Whenever I need a nut or bolt for the Honda I only have a selection I bought from Aldi few of which fit even though they are metric
E-bay sell SS selections for £45 !!.

Can anyone recommend a selection pack for my garage that would be useful in my time of need?

[Johnny4428]

Sorry cant recommend, but make sure you get fine metric threads and not course, I have a good selection of course threaded bolts and nuts, but quite sure most of the bike stuff is fine.

[Lynx]

Screwfix do a good selection of stainless steel fasteners at a good price. M8s have a 13mm head though.

Sent from my HTC Desire 530 using Tapatalk

[cantarauk]

I have just bought more today for a rebuild and also some other projects around the house.

And as always I ended up at ACCU - https://www.accu.co.uk/

What they don't have and I am after so apologies for hijacking the thread is the longer bolts for engine assembly. 6 x 80 + sizes in a BZP-10.9 grade or SS of similar

[ka-ja]

Not being concerned about originality, I use 316 st/steel cap heads where possible, over a few years, if I have needed a few at a certain size, I have ordered a few extra, the same with nuts and washers, I now have a good reserve of spares, all arranged in a couple of partitioned carry boxes.

[Spitfire]

When I did my rebuild I looked through the parts book and noted down all the sizes that I would need, where they would be seen they were chrome like the originals or replated originals, where they were in highly corrosive type areas and would not be seen they are stainless. I got them all from Custom Fasteners who also have M8 with 12 mm heads.
http://www.custom-fasteners.co.uk/bolts-nuts-washers-screws/hexagon-head-bolts/metric-bolts/m8-8mm/script-made-update-m8-8mm-bolt.html


Cheers

Dennis

[MCTID]

My two pennyworth after a few rebuilds over the years: If you trawl through the E Bay Fastener sellers, you can find plenty who sell sets for specific Hondas (and many other bikes). You can buy individual sets for the timing side covers and the transmission covers etc etc etc and add to these a fair selection of common sizes of bolts, studs, screws, nuts, washers etc., either in packs or just the number you think you'll need (always add 10% minimum). Over the years I have accumulated a wide selection of common fasteners, and I rarely get stumped for the right fastener.....I find it a real PITA if I can't put something back together just because I don't have the right bit at the time.

Like most things, you have to put stuff in the 'basket' and check the total price and whether P & P is included or not, and if not, is it reasonable or exorbitant. Sometimes you can get a better deal if you ask them for a 'Total price including shipping' though you do have to spend a bit of money to get these deals, but I can recommend doing this as you'll only end up buying them later and paying through the nose for them......i.e. £9.99 for four 8mm dia X 30mm long hex head bolts + £2.99 P&P !

If you are going to be rebuilding a complete bike, I'd bite the bullet and stump up to £100 as in the long run, A) you'll use them and B) you'll be glad that you did.

I often keep the old fasteners if they are still sound but rusty, and clean them up with a rotary wire brush, and/ or a rotary Scotchbrite Wheel and a spray coating of clear lacquer (as I have removed the rust/ sh1te/ zinc coating in cleaning them up), but I'm retired so I have plenty of time......but again, if you do get stuck, having the old fasteners cleaned up and readily available can be a life saver - and you are not just putting the crappy ones back - because you have taken the time to clean them up properly.

Last bit of good advice I can give is to also buy a stack of self sealing clear plastic bags of various sizes and tie on labels (cheap as chips on E Bay), and as you strip assemblies/ parts put them into the bags and use a permanent marker to state what they came off. As I get older my memory is sh1te.....even down to forgetting what I had for breakfast ! If you do it properly and religiously - even putting in a sketch or taking photos with your mobile, you'll keep your blood pressure manageable. Don't forget to put a dab of grease on each fastener before you reassemble - you'll be glad you did in a years time if you need to strip it again (I'm not interested in debating this...it works for me and I'll do it till my dying day).

Taking these wonderful old bikes to pieces is a real pleasure........it's therapeutic and one of the most rewarding pastimes I can think of.....just think things through, take your time and have a plan before you start....it's all too easy to get the spanners out and jump in feet first. Believe me I have been there and done that - much to my regret ! Most of all, enjoy yourselves.

[PHILIP2908]

Hello all,
I have always used NAMRICK in Brighton https://www.namrick.co.uk/
Mail order only at the moment, but good website and whatever you need is sitting on your doormat within a couple of days.

[Lobo]

Mac... my only comment is that you specify the type of head you need. I bought an expensive ‘restoration ’ / tailored set of fastenings for my 750, only to find they were all hex (Allen key) drives. I was **ssed off and wrote back asking how they were ‘restoration’ quality, but never got my £s back and now have oodles of SS hex fastenings.

[taysidedragon]

The best thing you can buy is a metric thread pitch tool. Only about £6/7 from Machine Mart or similar.
Then you can tell which threads are coarse , fine or even super fine.

Most of the Honda threads are coarse, with a mixture of the others scattered around the bike, for example,  the top yoke clamp bolts are M7 fine as are the chain adjuster screws. The rear wheel spindle is M16 superfine - not very common!

[bobv7]

I suspect we are all a bit guilty of being hoarders, especially with fasteners. I had a lifetimes collection but never seemed to be able to find the right one for the job so put the lot out for recycling and started off fresh with an organised selection. Guess what, I haven't needed one of them yet. Sods law?

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Mac... my only comment is that you specify the type of head you need. I bought an expensive ‘restoration ’ / tailored set of fastenings for my 750, only to find they were all hex (Allen key) drives. I was **ssed off and wrote back asking how they were ‘restoration’ quality, but never got my £s back and now have oodles of SS hex fastenings.

I see the advantages of a SS hex head over JIS but not as you infer for restoration nay concourse quality. The hex head seems to get a lot of negatives on here.

[bobv7]

Having grown up with the claim of "cheese" headed screws coming from Japan I realise that most of that came from not using JIS screwdrivers. However there was also a corrosion problem that even with the correct tool that the buggers wouldn't move. Fortunately I have a 1970's SnapOn impact driver that by sheer presence alone moves even the most stubborn fastener. I like allen head fasteners as they tend to come with their own torque wrench, unless of course you use a hex head on a socket driver. Apologies to those devoted to originality.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

When I took the clutch cover off my 250 Dream back in the late 60s using the Honda T bar tool most had to be drilled out! I fitted new screws from Honda dealer 18 months later they were all stuck fast again. I was dreading taking the cover off my 400/4 but using a cordless impact driver they all came out. - huge relief.