Fender Bolts/Washers Replace, Paint or Plate?

[Bingster]

I removed the rear fender bolts and washers off my '47 Desoto. They were rusty as expected. I sandblasted them.

I can get them plated for about $2.oo apiece. Or I could just prime and paint them. Or I could get new bolts but I cannot get the unique cupped washers that also serve as a lock washer.

I could cut the old bolts from the washers and just use the washers with new bolts.

Any ideas?

And, if I plate, cadmium?

[RobertKB]

After cleaning, prime and paint. Cheapest and still better than the bare metal when new. If you use rustoleum, really no need to even prime.

[Eneto-55]

Bingster said:

I removed the rear fender bolts and washers off my '47 Desoto. They were rusty as expected. I sandblasted them.

I can get them plated for about $2.oo apiece. .... if I plate, cadmium?

Yes. Cadmium is the plating on nearly all new bolts you would buy. Cadmium is softer than chrome, so it will take a bit of abuse with a socket or wrench w/o cracking off, also lubricates the threads, and is more waterproof than chrome. But I'm surprised they will charge so much. When I worked in a plating shop years ago, we Cad plated bolts in a tumbler. You could plate a whole mess of them at one time, and no individual racking is necessary. (They let me do stuff after hours, so I got all of mine that I had ready at the time done for free, just my time.)

Neto

 

EDIT - YEARS later: Correction: When I wrote this, I didn't yet know that cadmium had already been outlawed or something, and common hardware was no longer plated with cadmium, but rather zinc.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Eneto-55
Correction, Additional Comments

[BobT-47P15]

I haven't had fender bolts re-done, but at one time I had the rear

bumper rechromed. The guy at the shop told me to remove the

stainless covers from those oval bolts, which can be done with a

pair or two of pliers.......then he chromed the actual head of the

bolt......was a tiny bit smaller head that way, but looks good.

Could be done with the round bumper bolts too.....anything that has

the stainless cover on it.

Just tossing this in for whatever it might be worth to someone.

[desoto1939]

Bingster,

If you plan on having the car judge at an AACA event then if you go with new bolts you will then have a major deduction against your car. If going for jusginf then you will need to clean up the old bolts and cad plate the bolts. The bolts should have a DPCD in the head of the bolt. My bolts on my 39 Desoto have the DPCD stamped into each bolt.

If you are going for a driver then do what ever pleases you and your pocket book.

Rich Hartung

Desoto1939@aol.com

[plymouthasc]

The bolts were cadmium plated originally.

There are different qualities of plating depending on the way the shop is set up. I found a shop that is certified for scientific and government work and they definitely had the best quality plating I have seen. I believe they said the parts go through as many as 12 tanks. $2.00 each doesn't sound too bad depending on how many you do. Most larger shops have a minimum ($100+) but if you have a lot of stuff they will do it all for the same price. It has to do with how much time is involved in the process. It doesn't seem to matter to them if they have a rack half full or full. They are charging mostly for processing the rack.

This is one of those things that has many "correct" answers because there are so many variables in plating.

[Rusty O'Toole]

Even easier and cheaper to plate them yourself. Caswell Plating has everything you need. I have dealt with them and found them reliable and their products of good quality. I know other old car restorers who use their plating kits.

http://www.caswellplating.com/

[rockable]

Bingster,

If you plan on having the car judge at an AACA event then if you go with new bolts you will then have a major deduction against your car. If going for jusginf then you will need to clean up the old bolts and cad plate the bolts. The bolts should have a DPCD in the head of the bolt. My bolts on my 39 Desoto have the DPCD stamped into each bolt.

If you are going for a driver then do what ever pleases you and your pocket book.

Rich Hartung

Desoto1939@aol.com

This is why I'm glad I'm building a restorod.

[mrwrstory]

I use Satin Rustoleum a lot.

First wire brush, clean w/lacquer thinner, prime with SEM black etching primer, paint with SEM trim black or Rustoleum Patio/Outdoor Satin black. The etching primer and trim black are quite thin so the result looks a little more like black oxide.

I punch a "cross" in a piece of cardboard with an eXacto knife that I can press the bolts into,........for a holder. Nuts and washers I use double back tape.

The marks you may make during installation can be touched up with a Sharpie pen