where do yall all buy your fasteners online at i am tired of paying the 3 dollars for 4 bolts at the lhs</p>

http://www.microfasteners.com/

RTL Fasteners


If you buy their Master Building combo pack, it comes with every single bolt, nut, screw, washer, blind nut, etc. etc. etc. in four of the most popular sizes. 2/56, 4/40, 6/32, 8/32. They also give you 4 really nice storage boxes to put all the peices in and a nice little magneteic wand to pick one up if you drop one. The initial price of $159 might be a little expensive of this bulk package deal but in the end, each screw works out to be something like 13 cents a piece.

They also have smaller sets as well for about $89 that are still the most popular sizes but just fewer peices.

And if you need just a particualr type of screw they sell individual packs of 12, 24, 50 and 100 peices of any size screw, nut washer, etc. I would definatley check them out.

I second RTL Fasteners www.rtlfasteners.com
Great selection of steel and stainless fasteners at good prices and customer service.

www.microfasteners.com

These guys are great. They have great starter assortments, and also individual packs of the different hardware. I should get frequent shopper discounts from them for as much as I buy there!!!!

Ken

Micro, Every few years I will put in an order. I also have one big hardware store that has things like 2-56 and 4-40 but they are all grade 10 and high dollar so I don't buy a lot from them. I just don't require grade 10 to hold down a canopy or cowl.

Ilike Microfasteners too. great stuff at decent prices. Ihave never purchased from RTL but Iimagine they would be great as well.

It pays to have an assortment of fasteners and hardware on hand.

I'm also lucky to have a couple great hardware stores within a few miles that stock a lot of oddball stuff.

I used to think fastners used in our hobby are not available locally. But recently I found that they are. I bought a few mounting bolts for my OS FS91 at a local hardware store. Then the muffler bolts on my old 55ax became unuseable as they wouldnt turn with any of my allen keys. The 3mm variety available in the store was too short so I purchased a pair of 3mm cheesehead bolts and they went in fine (will need to put on locknuts though)

Just one question, if I put in locktite, will I be able to open the bolt later when I actually need to? So far I have always used the locknut technique to prevent this, but I am not sure I can use the locknuts on the 55ax stock muffler as there may not be enough space

Ameyam

You can still loosen bolts after you loctite them. Loctite will hold the bolt in place and keep it from backing out but you can still loosen them and take them out with an allen wrench or whatever.

Yes you can loosen them. Locktite - like the name suggests - gives you a better "lock". It has something to grip properly against and which then gives pressure - assuring a tight nut. It does not "weld" the bolt to the nut. Well this is how I have always seen it.

Just be careful which Locktite you use. They have various levels of strength and some of them are nearly permanent, especially on small screws. The blue stuff, labeled #242 Ibelieve, is a good medium strength and can generally be removed. It can be softened with heat however so it might not always work well on exhaust applications depending on how hot the muffler gets. A small dab of high temperature RTV silicone is sometimes helpful to prevent exhaust bolts from coming loose too.

I was just going to mention this. A long long time ago I installed a blower on an aluminum manifold and head using locktite. Big surprise, the aluminum threads came out with the bolt when I had to tear down the engine. I no longer use it on aluminum at all but these days there are several different types and strengths. My Bad!!!!!!!!!

I was out of blue and red and figured I would use some of the green Locktite sleeve and bearing retainer on a bolt once. The bolt started locking up before I even had it thread all the way in. Never did that again.