Not only was breaking the bolts loose a problem, but corrosion and rust were starting to appear on these OEM fasteners! Even the "show chrome" bolts that I had installed in a few places, WERE STARTING TO RUST!!!

Take a good look at this show chrome quality, always garaged, 6 month old hardware.

My Answer:

I started with several trips to the hardware store. Home Depot had a good selection I thought, but that is before I discovered that Ace Hardware has a much larger selection. The allen cap head bolts are made with head ridges and are unpolished. First the ridges have to be ground out, without putting deep score marks in the head. I performed all my bolt operations by chucking the new bolts up in my drill press. I suppose you could use a hand drill, and maybe clamping the hand drill into a vise, but it would be difficult. Quite a bit of pressure is applied to the head during polishing, and the bolt has to stay in place.

Assuming a drill press is used, chuck up the new bolt. Start with a grind stone, whet stone, or course grit sandpaper to grind out the ridges.

Next apply a grit of about 100 to further smooth the head.

Last grit should be 330, things should look shiney at this point. Finish with a metal polish in a cloth (or Stainless Steel buffing cake). I've tried both because I have both, and the results are the same.

That's it. Stainless Steel fasteners that hold up to the environment much better than anything with a chromey price tag.

"Chops" polished SS on the left...........................chrome on the right.

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