looking for an obscure bolt

take a picture, measure the thread pitch, post it, and I will help you out. I live 1 mile from Metric Mechanic.

 

Special fastener for the application. Have never found a good substitute. They are available new.

 

Please note that such bolts can easily be made new by any metal work-shop or even private people owning a lathe.

 

For $18 you'd have one custom made instead?

 

Ouch! that's a steep price for a shoulder screw! I'm a bit surprised a shoulder screw replacement couldn't be found. Guess it depends on the size.

German marques use a lot of shoulder screws as well so metric versions are fairly common. provided one is willing to use a non-oem allen head screw.

 

For a $20 part I just cannot bring myself to walk next door, never mind go anywhere further or spend time in a catalog looking for a part that just serves to announce to the entire world I have gone to any length to be cheap.

Never mind the fact that my time is worth a few dollars a minute and it is economically stupid to do so.

I just have more pride in my work and my clients cars than that.

If this is in fact all about bandaiding up cars in the cheapest way possible, I really am in the wrong place.

I mistakenly thought there was some sense of pride left.

 

Hold on, I know what your getting at. But fasteners are not always unique or specifically mfg to be custom. Given the location and work environment of that one fastener there is a highly real chance it's an off the shelf part if one knows where to look. Knowing the application is the first step in understanding if it's going to be specific or parts bin. Contrary to thought I don't spend in lots of time sifting thru catalogs to find hardware or locate a cheaper alternative. I have spent many yrs in engineering and design and have thousands of hrs of exposure to fastener mfg suppliers from mil-spec to aerospace, so that does give me an advantage in knowing where to source or how to source some components that almost always are parts bin.

I haven't a clue if that screw is 100% unique or not, but if the ferrari list price is that high on screw that usually only costs a couple bucks, well then yeah I'd do a quick 5 min search thru one of the many mfg's. So unless it says F.I.A.T. on the head, an exact duplicate can more then likely be sourced from places other then ferrari. Heck there is a fastener supply co outside of sacramento that imports direct from Italy, it's one source I've used for spring washers and nuts that are exactly the same as what ferrari uses but vastly less expensive.

Take the head studs for the 308, would you use the currently available ferrari ones?

 

Why? Do you have an alternative for that funny stud, with 2 thread sizes, a shoulder, and a freaking 11mm pitch?

 

+1
Completely agree.

M

 

Wait until you lose the recessed bolt and nut that hold the rear top corner of the window frame together!

Both are pretty wierd items.

But, they had a lot of them, at the time!

 

Uhhhh...once you lose something and replace it, it's not original to the car anyways. So how can anyone justify searching for an original Ferrari screw when an exact, unintelligible replacement is readily available? I'll tell who can...me!

 

I've made little bits like this on my lathe but only because I want it NOW. Unless you are running your own lathe you can't make it cheaper and probably not even then.
If you do find the BMW/Alfa/Fiat/Yugo equivalent it will still cost $10 - it's a pretty funny part, not a standard bolt at all. For $10 savings - really? And I say this a cheap mofo - just buy the bolt from Ricambi or Rutlands and move on.

Save the hunt for the NLA stuff.

 

At this point I'm glad I didn't mention what I did to my QV with a Cornflakes packet

 

this is getting kinkier by the minute! Do tell...

 

Wow, can't believe all that discution about a $18 part. I'm not a rich guy at all and try to save as much as possible when it's time to repair things but I would never search for a replacement at $18.

Some of you would cry out loud if you had to buy the diff crown bolts at $50 a piece with 12 of them. But they no longer exist anyway. I bought some of the very last available.

 

You know it comes down to availability and price gouging. An eerily similar bolt is used by Milwaukee tools and is a whopping 0.99! it's not an exact match nor would I suggest using it, it's similar in size at M6, a bit larger but at less then a dollar for a bolt it makes the ~20$ bolt seem like you should get dinner first before being bent over!

It's a hex head shoulder bolt, nothing fancy. Odd size to the norm but I'd be willing to bet that it's a bin bolt. Is it worth a shops time to source it, no it's not. Is it worth an owners time? that's up to the owner.

Btw, hill engineering also remakes that bolt.