I've been looking for a good source for reasonably high quality fasteners for quite some time, that doesn't have a 100+ qty minimum order. I usually get discouraged by the price or the minimum quantity, so I give up and go with the auto parts store junk.

I hate using the crap from autozone/advance autoparts/etc. They don't have a flange so you have to use a washer, plus the head size, for an M8 anyway, is 13mm instead of 12mm.

I did some looking and found this:
http://store.nutsandbolts.com/meflbojis.html#top

Their price per bolt isn't terrible and you can buy in small enough quantities that you don't have hundreds of dollars wrapped up in bolts sitting idle in your garage. I'd prefer a phosphate coating, but I think these might work.


Anyone else have any other good sources?

 

If you only need a few, just get them from your local Mazda dealer.

 

Mcmaster-Carr I think quantites as low as 10

mcmaster.com

 

A couple of places to try are "Metric and Multistandard" and "Trident Racing Supplies". Trident is in England so shipping might be costly but they supply metric fasteners to the pro racing industry all the time. "Coast Fabrication" also might haev some metric fasteners for you. If not they can point you in the direction of somebody who can.

If you're specifically looking for ones with the captive washers, you're proably going to be limited to the dealer or my favorite place for fasteners, hose clamps, etc....the local salvage yard.

BTW....as an Engineer who has spent quite a bit of time around fasteners in both racing and military applications, I'd never personally use a McMaster-Carr fastener on anything that is part of the suspension, steering, braking, drivetrain, or engine systems of a car.

Best of luck to you!

 

You, your company has had bad experience with McMaster fastners?

 

Home Depot, Lowes, and Orchard Supply carry a small selection of high quality metric fasteners in the 6-16mm range (usually pretty high grade too: 12.8 typically, which is higher than SAE grade 8).

 

I see you too, sir, are a fastener ***** .

The bolts on the FD are JIS standard fasteners. "Metric" means a whole RANGE of fasteners, but the JIS bolts have the flanged heads, 10/12/14/17mm head sizes, etc. that we're used to.

Now, if you wanna get REAL picky like me and love the look of yellow zinc plating, you're really gonna have a hard time. I ordered some from here -

http://eagleday.stores.yahoo.net/fayzi.html

They have some nice yellow zinc plated flanged head bolts that are proper tool sizes. Still not awesome, but better than nothing.

The best, especially if you want 10mm captive washer bolts, is the junkyard. I got a BAG of them out of the pick-and-pull yard once. Really good place to look is under the door panels of cars - the power windows and stuff are usually held in with these type of bolts, and those bolts aren't exposed to heat and weather, so they look just like new. Hit up every import you can find - I found a 4-door Honda that was put together with tons of them. I wasn't charged for the bolts, either, just the $1 to get in the yard.

Dale

 

Anyone know how the stock fasteners hold up after glass beadblasting? I'm guessing it knocks off the zinc protective coating because they become silver colored, but the ones I have done are rust free after several months. They look great too.

 

Both...
Me personally in racing circles (Vintage F1, Formula Holden, FSAE)

The Company I work for in the design and fabrication of missile components, Missile shipping and transport sytems, Jet Engine Components, and Bomb Kits.


If you're really into fasteners, you should pickup a copy of "Carroll Smiths Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners, and plumbing Handbook". It goes into full detail about the in's and outs of high quality fasteners.

To the original poster...I agree with Dale on this one. The junk yard is the best bet to find these fasteners in the price/quantity you're looking for. Oh yeah....while you're there look at the Nissan ring style hose clamps. They're a cheap alternative to T-Bolt clamps and are better than worm drive clamps.

As MoConnor mentioned....that is a good find. If you're just holding on undertrays, body panels, interior panels, underhood parts that bolt to the firewall and shock towers, these fasteners as well as Home Depot, Lowe's, and McMaster fasteners are good to go....just don't use them in a place where failure could put your life (or others) in danger.

Best of luck hunting!

 

Good find. I've never been able to find yellow zinc fastners in reasonable quantities from anywhere other than a dealer - where $5-$10 per bolt/nut is not uncommon.

 

Thanks everyone.


Dale, I wouldn't call my self a "fastener *****," more like a ****...you know just for fun.

I go to lowe's/HDR as an alternative to the parts stores, but I'm still not happy with what they have to offer.

None of what I do is life or death if it breaks, just small mod type of stuff (IC mounting, Oil cooler brackets, etc). I just still want to be able to disassemble 95% of my car with a 10, 12, 14 & 17mm wrench.

 

I've heard Pegasus auto racing is pretty good for this also

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/adv...oryID=HARDWARE

If you google stainless steel bolts (or fasteners), you'll get a bunch of hits on places. Some with 18.8 quality stainless bolts in metric.

 

Any Mercedes, esp. the doors from 1986-1995 use the 10mm and 13mm hex-head zinc-plated flange/washer bolts.

European cars tend to stay with 8, 10, 13, 16 and 17mm.
Japanese cars seem to like 8, 10, 12, 14, and 17mm.

You can try: http://www.boltdepot.com/metric-hex-bolts.aspx

:-) neil

 

If you need body fasteners: http://www.thefastenerwarehouse.com/

It's nice since I always seem to break/lose the 13 year breakout rivets.

 

Ace Hardware.

Within 5 miles of me there are 3 Ace HW stores with a vast supply of SAE/Metric fasteners, and a lot of other HW. They are all over the USA I believe.

I was there last Saturday to buy some 6x10x25 metric allen screws for installing oil coolers.

I also managed to lose the washer of a new 18mmx10AN converter. Swept the floor, used a magnet, still haven't found it. Managed to find a suitable replacement at Ace.

 

I ended up ordering some RX-7 common bolt sizes from the place I listed in the first post. They appear to be decent enough and they were reasonably priced. Standard 10, 12 & 14mm heads.

I haven't seen any metric flanged bolts at Ace. They have the standard stuff you can get at lowes or HD, although my local Ace is pretty small.

 

I expect to visit one of the U-Pull-it lots in the next month or so Ryan. My daughter's car needs some interior pieces. I'll try to remember to look around. Shipping might cost you a cold one next time you in town.