complete list of bolts & lengths for a chassis rebuild

[Terrytuned]

To replace rivets I use 8mm button head socket screws fitted with 8mm flange nuts my chassis came as a flat pack, fixed together over 20yrs ago no problem.
Terry.

[merlinart]

Hi Simon

Should one really go to such lengths then? I realise that over 80 years, rivets can work loose. Before I had the chassis blasted, I went round it with a soft hammer, just tapping here and there to check that none were loose?

Arthur

[jansens]

I've used Namrick in the past but also have found Thomas Smith Fasteners to be very good, especially when sending overseas: https://www.thomassmithfasteners.com/

BSF/BSW is nearly impossible to get from local NZ suppliers now and the ones who do have them want ridiculous prices so whatever they have left will just stay taking up shelf space. Would you pay 20 quid for a single 1/2" BSF nut!

Simon

[merlinart]

Excellent, thanks for that. Namrick are just 8 miles from me, but will try these others.

Arthur

[A G Wood]

BSF/BSW is nearly impossible to get from local NZ suppliers now and the ones who do have them want ridiculous prices so whatever they have left will just stay taking up shelf space. Would you pay 20 quid for a single 1/2" BSF nut!
Absolutely! Plus having to argue the difference between UNC and Whitworth [they're the same mate...].
I did have a win once though, with a handful of BSF grease nipples for five NZD, from a shoebox size bin full of them.

["Slack Alice" Simon]

No, but that is what some people do.   I was just pointing out that if that had been done, there would be quite a number of extra fastenigs required.

In 1980, when we had driven "Slack Alice" around 70,000 miles and done trials and road rallies, I found all the nosepiece rivets were loose.

Not having the time or experience or the kit - I used what I had easily available - which was a carbon-arc torch on my electric welder - and ran heavy lines of braze top and bottom of the

nosepiece junction with the rest of the chassis.

It is still there and still solid, last time I looked, which was the body off rebuild in 2011.

[jansens]

BSF grease nipples are still actually easy to get. I think I paid about $NZ30 for 25 of them last time I bought some for the Riley. I have had people say why don't you just use metric fasteners to me before. I always reply that then none of my spanners will fit.

Simon

[Oxford Jack]

Excellent retort, sad that the listener will in all probability not get the irony!

[Chris KC]

I may just be a tight git but any used nuts and bolts I remove which are not ruined go in a plastic tub. There's been many a Sunday afternoon I was stuck for a nut and found something reclaimable in the tub. Not for big ends perhaps, but there are plenty of non-critical joints where a lightly used bolt will do just fine. Plus a good supply of raw material if you need to knock up a grub screw etc. With a handful of imperial fastenings now £50 or so it's a handy resource.

[Hugh Barnes]

Like Chris, I've never thrown any nuts and bolts away (unless they were completely mullered) and by the time my retirement came around, I had accumulated two large tins (made from gallon oil cans on their side) of nuts and bolts. The first job I did when retired was to empty the tins onto the bench, sort through every single nut and bolt, judging thread type, rejecting everything that wasn't imperial and then cleaning the threads with the relevant tap or die. It sounds a miserable job, but it went surprisingly quickly. As a result, I have two large tins of BSF nuts and bolts of various sizes, all of which are immediately useable.. Buying new can be terribly expensive and often, it is only set screws that are available when the appropriate bolt is always preferred...