When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hey group! I'm repairing the broken vent window on my 1965 F250. Since the rest of the door internals weren't in good shape, I picked up an anti-rattler kit fro Dennis Carpenter. I removed the door to make installation easier and found that some of the hinge bolts (connecting the door to the hinge) were rusty. I'd like to replace them, but I'm having trouble finding replacements. The hinge bolts shown on the NPD and Dennis Carpenter sites don't look like what I pulled out. The attached pictures are of one of the better looking bolts. Anyone know where I can find something like this. It seems to be a 3/8-16 thread. Thanks everyone.
google for "3/8 body bolt dog point Sems washer", lots of sources, but some are by the box only.
Pretty sure you can get small bags of em at any NAPA store, or they can easily get them for you...
This old guy used to carry about every fastener that was reproduced. I think now it is just stock on hand. The PDF's will print full size. Open pages 181-183 and you might find something close. Those captured loose washers on the door hinge and the hood hinge are hardened and are not easy to find. I had some extra ones that I sandblasted and phosphate coated but I can't find them. If you are really into reusing fasteners you can sandblast them and recoat them. The process is a stove top operation and the chemicals are pretty safe to use. Just google zinc phosphate or manganese phosphate coating. Zinc phosphate is the cheapest and is a light gray coating. Manganese phosphate is more like the coating used on firearms and is a charcoal gray. https://mrgusa.com/fasteners/
Anybody who resells other manufacturers fasteners could be getting some of them from AMK Products that I linked to the one bolt in my post above. AMK makes most of their own stuff here in the USA. They also, years and years ago (1997), wrote the book on Ford Fasteners that covers an almost 20 year span of vehicles. It is a fairly comprehensive list. I know others here in this forum have bought this manual as well.
Thanks for all the input. Simply for cost and availability purposes, I may go with a zinc coated hex bolt and flat washer with some threadlocker. Any reasons I should not go this route? Thanks.
Thanks for all the input. Simply for cost and availability purposes, I may go with a zinc coated hex bolt and flat washer with some threadlocker. Any reasons I should not go this route? Thanks.
Yes. Those original bolts with the hardened serrated washer were used because they will bite into the door frame and not move. Same for the hood hinges. If you use a regular flat washer you will probably be realigning your doors on a regular basis. If all your bolts are as good as the one in your picture just clean them up and reuse them.
You can purchase some Evapo-rust and soak the original bolts for a couple of days and they will come out looking almost new. Lube the threads and paint the heads and your back in business.
Good call on the Evapo-rust. I just replaced door seals on Sunday. My bolts were in about the same shape. Used wire wheel to clean mine up and some 3-in-1 oil on the threads. I would NOT recommend Loctite on the bolts as you will need to realign the doors on occasion, and that would make it even more difficult than it already is. The bolts are hidden, so if the threads are good, I'd wire wheel them than hit the tops with some rustoleum and be done with it.
Thanks for the Evapo-Rust suggestion. I soaked the bolts overnight in it, and the took a wire brush to them. They cleaned up good as new. I sprayed a little Rustoleum on the tops for some corrosion resistance. Thanks to everyone for the advice.
On a side note, the whole purpose of this was to fix the broken vent window (the pivot broke). Since I had to take so much out of the door to fix the vent window, I decided to fix up the door with a new weatherstrip, division bar, anti-rattlers, and window run. There's a YouTube channel, Rudy's Resurrection, that basically took me through most of the process. I just wanted to give him a shout out for such an informative video.
