Rusty bolts

[Cheeseboard]

 

My Caterham has been on the road for 3 months, done 1000 miles and been kept in the garage when not used.

 

So why when I washed it last night do I notice that so many bolt heads are as rusty as some I had on an old Triumph Spitfire from 1978?

 

Are they known to be made from poor stuff (TADTS), or are there replacement bolts available if I can work out exactly what I need (and need to be made of) - or shall I just get the wire brush out and try to forget I paid £20k not long ago for it?

 

It's not all of them by any means - but certainly the ones on both sets of callipers look shockingly bad.

 

Any experiences?

 

[Jason Plato]

that will be the Ford Calipers then ..... I expect the brake discs are rusting too ?

 

how are the suspension bolts doing ?

 

here is my Duratec R .... C7 TOP

Taffia joint AO with Al

 

[jonboylaw]

Ah, I see what your problems is...

 

 

 

.... you are washing it instead of driving it! You can't see the bolts from the drivers seat! 😬

 

Certainly don't be tempted to swap them for Stainless, maybe some zinc plated HT ones may help.

 

Jon

[Willie.]

The calliper ones will be worst as they're getting a fair bit of heat, and they're out in the open.

 

Its not just rain that makes things damp/rust. Condensation will do it too. Are you turning heat on/off in your garage and is it not overly well insulated?

 

Bolts tend to be cut to size, and coatings usually get damaged when you're fitting them, so its best to clean them up and put a bit of paint on them to protect from rust.

 

Don't worry about it too much. Certainly not worth replacing bolts...but do slabber a bit of paint over them.

 

Willie

[The Pikey]

During your last three months of ownership there has been salt on the roads and this I think is why it's so bad.

 

I took my new chassis on a 30 min trip to get engine mounts made during a time where the roads would have been salted a couple of days before. When I returned to collect the chassis a week later everything which was bare metal had corrosion on it. Fortunatly for me it all came off but after three months eating away at it, I doubt it would. After that and although a pain in the 🙆🏻, if I ever took the 7 out where the roads were the slightest bit white I'd always wash it down when I got home.

 

Jason

 

 

[RichardUSA]

Sorry for the hijack rant and I can hear the 'tart' talk now but the low quality plating on the fasteners is one of my gripes about the car. Working on the car this winter I was amazed that my BMW bike ('87) hasn't a bit of rust on its various bits. My car never sees rain and is clean so why should I be seeing rust starting on the fasteners? Exposed suspension deserves better...

CC please source better bits. I'm willing to pay an additonal 50 bucks or so for quality fasteners.

[Cheeseboard]

 

No heated garage.

 

Washed fairly reguarly, especially after any times when I've considered the roads salty.

 

I'll check the suspension bolts out as well , I think some dabs of paint may be in order.

 

Totally agree with RichardUSA, I would pay a little extra for the small details to be taken care of...

 

Thanks for the feedback, appreciated.

 

[LesG]

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Nice one Jonboy! 😬