warp2diesel wrote:
Stainless studs are a good idea, better stick with 316 instead of 304 or 18-8. The clorides in the road salt will rust the 304 and 18-8, besides 316 shines like chrome.
Should you choose to make your own studs by cutting the heads off bolts or using threaded rod, you will need to passivate the Stainless Steel to remove the surface iron. In industry, the put the small parts into a tank of 10% Citric Acid (by weight in water) and heat it to 140f for one half hour. For large pieces of equipment like I work with or small operations like yours, this is impractical. When I do passivation in the field, I spray the solution on and leave it on for at least two hours, often I just leave it on until it gets rinsed off by rain or housekeeping operations. For your operation if you don't have a buddy who works at a Soda Pop bottling plant, food factory that uses Citric Acid, or some industrial processing facility, here are some other sources. Lemons or Limes that are no longer good enough for your Tequila, Mountain Dew that has gone out dated or flat, other Soda Pop that has citric acid toward the top of the list on the label. Soak the parts over night and rinse off and the job is done. Hydrochloric Acid will have the opposite effect and make the Stainless Steel rust worse than doing nothing, been there done that. Nitric Acid works great, but if you buy some, BATFE will want to see more than your gun collection, even if you don't have one. Plus Home Land Security will be checking your email, your house, and who you hang out with. If you buy Nitric Acid, let me suggest you either be a Chemist or hang out with some buddies that enjoy a good brew and have it documented by credit card transactions, terrorists have an aversion to adult beverages that are created by using good bacteria. If you are a Biodiesel Home Brewer and have Nitric Acid around, you better have a good Lawyer when Home Land Security shows up.
The JB Weld will work great for the thermostat studs, figure in a 5000PSI shear strength for stud retention if you like playing with the calculations. If you use Loctite with Stainless Steel and want it to work in the foreseeable future, use some chlorinated brake cleaner for the accelerator.
I was pretty much sold on the JB weld when I looked at the stats yesterday, plus it is COMPLETELY inert to chemicals so it won't be weaker in antifreeze like the threadlocker. As far as the stainless, well that just makes good sense.
Hopefully I will be able to find studs the correct length in 316 Stainless and not have to do any cutting to specific lengths. I can also work with the intermediate plate depth or drill/tap the holes a bit deeper to make the studs meet at the length I need so I SHOULD be able to avoid cutting the studs.
As far as passivating to remove the surface iron, I'm pretty sure you were saying I would only need to do that if the studs were cut, correct? Just want to verify. And I think Cocoa Cola is the highest in Citric Acid content for the sodas...just a guess.
Thanks for all the help everyone.