Phillips screws and wiring with plastic insulation are pretty tacky on a Model T, and if you're going to have slotted screws and cloth covered wiring you want your nuts and bolts to look right too. A modern bolt can be made to look pretty close, though the head is a bit shorter. I went to the local farm supply and bought five dozen 3/8-24 bolts in various lengths, because that size is used quite a bit on T's. Here's my way of adapting them to pass for period fasteners. These aren't exactly the same as the originals in every way, but I think they're pretty good.
You want to make holes for cotter pins to hold the castle nuts in place, so you start with a guide for drilling the holes. The first step is grinding a little flat spot on one of the corners of a hex nut.
On that little flat spot you punch mark in the center.
Next, drill through the nut with a 1/8" bit.
The drill passing through has probably boogered up the threads, so run a tap through the nut.
Now the nut can be used as a guide to drill through the center of each bolt so the hole will line up with the gaps in the castle nut.
Next step is to bevel the hole with a 3/16" bit.
That makes one end of the bolt done.
But the other end has those modern markings on it.
We don't all have a lathe, but most of us have a drill press that can be used to grind off the markings with a grindstone.
Soon the markings are gone. If you want a smoother surface, you can grind more using a finer stone.
Now your bolt is ready to take a week-long vinegar bath to prepare it for painting. There are products that will do the job faster, but I don't think any of them sell for 2¢ an ounce.
Nice Job Steve.
Thanks for the idea.
Nice Job Steve: I like the "Can Do " attitude.
Don't know if you can still get these but one of the best things I ever bought is this jig for drilling holes for the split pins. They were advertised in the Vintage Ford at one time
As you can see all the different sizes are there with a guide hole to drill the proper sizes holes through the bolts The block is hardened.
Didn't mean to steal you thread Steve but if you are going to do a lot of bolts say for a ground up restoration one of these would be really handy. I thought if I posted a photo of it someone might recognise what it is at a swap meet etc where they might not normally know what it was.
I'll be watching for one of those.
I've been looking for 1 that Peter shows, with no luck. Think I've seen in a vendor’s catalogue. Thanks for tip using a nut. . I like it!! Especially for just the odd bolt.
Lang’s lists them. Let’s see if this link works.
http://www.modeltford.com/item/DR-TOOL.aspx
Paul
Steve, I love your posts! What's next?
Thanks Peter: I'm the guy who designed the Handi-Holer drilling jig, and have them manufactured. Glad you like my little item. As noted in other posts, they are sold by several of the vendors---and I always have some in my car at tours. Regards, Tim
Steve, I also have had trouble finding bolts that were drilled for cotter pins. I made this jig and have found it to work rather well. This one is for a 3/8 bolt. I have others for other sizes. I like the idea of dressing the head of the bolt. Havn't done that yet.
The jig is easy to use, just put it into the vise on the bench or in the drill press. Allow a few threads to show (set the hole depth) and drill. I is easy to make a jig.