Will gold colored grade 8 and other hardware RUST?

Does the goldish coating on grade 8 hardware protect the metal from rusting? I am installing a swaybar and am wondering what I need to paint. All the hardware is kinda gold colored and the swaybar itself is gold. Is this the same type of gold that is on some high performance oil pans? It seems like no one ever paints those oil pans and they dont rust, so Do I need to worry about painting my swaybar stuff? Isn't the gold coating called gold iridite or something like that?

-Aaron

Now if I remember right you are fairly correct! But if you so much as scratch the coating, since it is just a coating, then you create an area that can rust and it will lift the rest of the coating to continue rusting. So if you can get them in with out scratching them you should be good to go, but a socket or wrench being put on them will scratch the coating off in areas!:eek:

This is just what I think, but I could be wrong!

The plating is a zinc electroplate with a gold irridite finish. zinc can be finished raw (silver), black (actually sort of dark green) or gold. If the plating is done well over clean metal if will be very corrosion resistant.

The zinc acts as a sacraficial anode so it does slowly wear off over time but... light scratches will not rust because of this. Of course deep gouges will still rust. If it is in a salt environment it will corrode a lot like aluminum (white chalky pitting).

The plating on fasteners seems very inconsistent.... sometimes they stand up well other times not. Higher grade fasteners are usually more corrosion resistant because of the base material.

it will go away if you wont to preserve it you better coat them with something

I Had a lot of zinc coated bolts on my off-road truck,they hold up good. I think on some thing that might see a little rain and thats,it they will be fine.IMO

I gave my Milodon oil pan a light coat of clear and it kept it's original color and no rust. The sway bar was left untouched and there was no rust but the gold finish really faded away. The car never saw too much rain.

Does the goldish coating on grade 8 hardware protect the metal from rusting?

-Aaron

No. At least not here in Michigan. It's better than no coating though.

it is better than nothing but in a short amount of time it will get rusty

I live in hawaii EVERYTHING RUST

Originally Posted by Paul Wright
Building a small, high rpm engine
with the perfect bore, stroke and rod ratio is very impressive...
like a highly skilled Morrocan sword fighter with a Damascus Steel Scimitar.

Cubic inches is like Indiana Jones with a cheap pistol..


But you don't see those moron...I mean morrocans in outlaw 10.5!!!!!:D

Cadmium Plating was once considered the ideal solution. It is commonly used in aerospace & military applications (as well as by import and European car manufacturers) to protect fasteners and electronics subjected harsh environments.

http://www.mesafastener.com/specialty-plating.html

Now Zinc Nickel Plating is considered superior to cadmium. (Kind of pricey though.)

http://www.gattoplating.com/nickel_plating.asp

Below is a link to a more cost effective option. I haven't tried this yet but it looks promising.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/article/idx/5/004/article/Protecting_Parts_With_The_Black_Oxide_Process.html

Below is a link to a more cost effective option. I haven't tried this yet but it looks promising.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/article/idx/5/004/article/Protecting_Parts_With_The_Black_Oxide_Process.html

I used Eastwood's black oxide kit and it's a lot of work with imperfect results unless you clean & degrease the parts absolutely perfectly! Even then, the coating isn't very thick & durable.

I'd consider it just OK, but a better alternative is to invest in higher quality coated fasteners.

almost all my black oxide bolts from ARP rusted in a VERY short time