stainless steel bolts in engines... thoughts...

Is really stainless steel bolts in engines good, imean the charteristics for that metal is that so good to have in an engine, any thoughts on this?, need lodsa new bolts for one of my olds engines and "complete" bolt kits in stainless is easy to find, but just wondering if stainless steel really should be used in the engine..
just have a bad feel about that in the long run...

am i just paranoid or does this have a point?

 

Well there are different kind of stainless steel, with different characteristics. I think one have to ***ume that if the bolts are sold for engine purposes, they will meet the demands.

Personally I'd go with regular steel bolts (cheaper), but use anti-seize compound in critical applications.

Just my 2 cents

 

Depends on the type of stainless steel. 18-8 stainless is about as strong as a grade 8 fastner. ARP sells stainless hardware, and I'm sure thier stuff is adequate for anything you're going to do with it. But I wouldn't say the same thing about the typical hardware store stuff, or any of the brand-x stuff that comes from overseas.

 

Go ahead and use the hardware store stuff in non-critical applications.

(Rocker Covers, air cleaners etc.)

ARP carries a stainless bolt that's stronger than grade 8.
In particular, their header bolt.
It looks similar to the 7/16 headed 3/8-16 bolt, but the ARP header bolt has a 3/8 head.
They work well and I've had no problems with them.

Check the ARP website and/or get a catalog.
They're an ok outfit to deal with and orders are received on time.

 

[Stainless steel fastners work and look good. Polished they stay bright well. Only one word of caution, always apply anti-sieze compound to the threads!

 

Agree with the neversieze. With dissimilar metals there will be some galvanic corrosion that can cause things to bind up when it comes time to remove them and some stainless alloys can be soft and will tend to gall. The neversize will help with both issues.


Steve

 

I have learnt the anti seize lesson while building my car. I bought some good anti seize when I started my car with intentions on using it for final ***embly. While diss***embling some parts still durring the mock up stages I had a couple of SS bolts that I had to cut off due to galding. I now use it on damn near everything that is not lock***ed no matter what stage of the build. And remember "a little goes a long way". My favorite is the silver grade antiseize stick, it is a chapstick type tube that is easy and non messy to apply. Loc***e Manufacturers number 37230.

 

hey Daemon!
i have stainless for my Rocket engine,except the main caps,rod bolts,and head bolts of course.
i used lots of anti-seize.
i had to swap water pumps after the engine had been together for a couple years,NO problem.

 

Where ever stainless comes into contact with iron or steel corrosion will be a problem.
It doesn't react with aluminum unless it is really cheap stainless.
I wouldn't use stainless on internals or anywhere that is stressed.
Shear strength tends not to be as good a regular steels designed for the job.
Had lots of problems years ago with bumper bolts shearing, both stainless and hardened. Went to low grade steel bolts that were chromed, end of problem.

 

I am using the ARP stainless header bolts-no problems. I love anti-seize:a real problem preventer and fun to play with-it gets on every thing. I use the Permatex brand-thinking about putting it into a syringe with an applicator tip to try to reduce the mess.

 

I saw a car at a show, had a nice flattie with a 3/4 cam in it. Sounded great! Was a bit suprised to see Ace Hardware s/s bolts being used for head bolts!