Size to Improvise fender eye bolt?

[ivaldes1]

Hi all, I've misplaced an original fender eye bolt, Lang's is back ordered and I need to improvise something quick. Is there a particular size hardware store eye bolt that works? I can heat it and pound it flatter then grind a bit off to make it fit.

[George House]

When do you need it doc ? I have a bunch of them and will give you one....

[John kuehn]

Get you the correct threaded bolt and use a chain link to weld to the end of the bolt. If you want yo cut off the head of the bolt and then weld a chain link to the end of it.
Take your other eyebolt to the Ace hardware store and you can match up the size of the chain link pretty close to your original. They usually sell link chain by the foot.
Might not be perfect but it will work and not look bad.

[ivaldes1]

Like Wednesday brother...

When do you need it doc ? I have a bunch of them and will give you one....

[George House]

Then email me your address and I’ll use a bubble wrap envelope... quick !

[Wayne Sheldon]

Back in the days when one could buy real hardware at a good local hardware store, one could buy real forged eye-bolts of nearly correct size, only with a standard circle shaped eye. Using a scrap piece of steel rod as a shaping anvil, about 3/8 to 1/2 inch diameter, cock the eye bolt to one side, and heat with torch to hammer oval shape and flatten slightly the roundness of the formerly circle shaped eye. Would take me about five minutes to alter one to an almost perfect replacement.
The last time I needed one more? No such luck. Couldn't even find a hardware store clerk that had ever heard of forged eye-bolts (much higher strength than standard rolled soft steel bolts). You should have seen the two nasty originals I repaired! One, some nice PO had used a cutoff or saber saw to remove the fender from the fender bracket! Cut the whole one side off the bolt I needed! I cut and ground a steel piece to fit and welded it into the eye-bolt! Since then, I managed to acquire a few extras.

[ivaldes1]

Looks like they are still available mail-order: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=forged+eye-bo ... a=shopping

Back in the days when one could buy real hardware at a good local hardware store, one could buy real forged eye-bolts of nearly correct size, only with a standard circle shaped eye. Using a scrap piece of steel rod as a shaping anvil, about 3/8 to 1/2 inch diameter, cock the eye bolt to one side, and heat with torch to hammer oval shape and flatten slightly the roundness of the formerly circle shaped eye. Would take me about five minutes to alter one to an almost perfect replacement.
The last time I needed one more? No such luck. Couldn't even find a hardware store clerk that had ever heard of forged eye-bolts (much higher strength than standard rolled soft steel bolts). You should have seen the two nasty originals I repaired! One, some nice PO had used a cutoff or saber saw to remove the fender from the fender bracket! Cut the whole one side off the bolt I needed! I cut and ground a steel piece to fit and welded it into the eye-bolt! Since then, I managed to acquire a few extras.

[George House]

... that’s what I did yesterday evening - mail ordered you an original

[Wayne Sheldon]

Ignacio V said;
"Looks like they are still available mail-order:"

Yeah, being able to buy almost anything on the internet does have some advantages. However getting it today is not one of them. What I do not like is that more and more brick and mortar stores are carrying less and less because they don't want to have to have it on the shelf. Then they complain that all their customers have gotten used to buying everything online and can't sell enough to stay in business. It quickly turns into a lose-lose-lose situation.

And at the time, since I had the cut one? I was able to make weld and repair the cut one in a tiny fraction of the time than it had taken me to find out no hardware store in town even knew what a forged eye-bolt was.

[BobShirleyAtlantaTx]

Mr. House you are a gentleman and a Scholar! You exemplify what this hobby is about. My hat is off to you sir.