T16 restoration starts in earnest

[ajmac]

Andrew,
BSF / BSW is still available, I was surprised how easy it was, a number of industrial suppliers in the West Midlands who will sell you boxes full, 100's per box. BSF is a little more hit and miss but for the T16, UNC and UNF will be a synch! For odd one offs try Spalding Fasteners nr me (ebay), for boxes full try: Willenhall Fasteners Ltd, they only deal company to company not to the public so I purchased them through a family company. You will want to order HEX heads and if you want then A2 stainless will be available through specialist stainless fastener suppliers, try Apex Stainless nr Wolverhampton, again company only transactions.

[horsa]

For bolts and machine screws, I used a mail-order Internet company here in the USA called Bolt Depot. Cost a bunch as there are so many large bolts in the T-16 but figured it was better to replace everything since it was a complete ground up restoration. I used stainless in most places. Link below is their company:

http://www.boltdepot.com/hex-bolts.aspx

For brass fittings needed with the two oil coolers and all the various lines, I used another Internet company linked below. Austin is a big city but a lot of this type of stuff just isn't readily available anywhere that you can walk into. So placing an on-line order was a lot easier overall, even though you need to think things out in advance for the project.

http://fittingsandadapters.com/

[andrew honychurch]

well thanks once again Guys. I will take a look at both of these websites. I dont think I will stretch to Stainless but usually use copper grease on threads where they will need to be undone again in the course of ordinary service work. It is a pain , as you say David , even in a large City its frustrating to try and find the bolts one needs easily and when you want them! I am hoping that I may find a supplier at War and Peace in 2 weeks time, and try and buy a bucket load of bolts. Currently struggling with the countersunk slot head that hold all the hull fixings on. I have a box of these, some are raised domes which were for a Half track but they are the size up ! Pain. Ah well, need to spend some time on the net sorting this lot out.

[ajmac]

Careful with the net, when it comes to nuts and bolts, the phone and a company headed note paper gets you a lot more for your money than companies targeting the 'hobby market'.

[andrew honychurch]

I call this my Spring Alpine Camoflage. One can increase the ammount of brown in the mix and reduce the white depending on how far into Spring season it is.