ID of bolts etc from AIM GM part no.

[Steve L.]

I've got a '73 AIM. How do you figure out what the bolts are and how would you correlate that with suppliers like Paragon?

Thanks

Steve L
73 coupe since new

[Joe L.]

Re: ID of bolts etc from AIM GM part no.

Steve-----

There's really no way to do what you're asking with generally available references. You pretty much have to trust Paragon's description for the original application. For the most part, the fastners that they offer are correct WITH RESPECT TO BEING TYPICAL OF ONE OF THE VERSIONS USED IN PRODUCTION.

[Stephen L.]

Re: ID of bolts etc from AIM GM part no.

If you haven't already taken the car apart you may want to do the following as I recently did......

As you disassemble the parts, place the bolts for a respective piece in a "baggie" and label it so you know where they came from... (ex. right lower A arm cross member)
If you have shims etc. note on a paper how many were in a location.
You can also make a copy of the AIM page and "mark up" the page with the bolt description and a sketch of the bolt head marking.

After you have disassembled the car go back and "wire wheel" all the bolts, nuts, washers etc. to get them clean, if they are "salvageable". (A wire wheel on a bench grinder works great, however it IS time consuming...)Replace them in the respective "baggie"!
Also, if you can determine what the bolt finish was ("zinc" "black phosphate" "natural") by close inspection during cleaning, note this info on the "baggie".

Now that you have all things cleaned up you can inventory what bolts can be replated and those that need replacing. I purchased some "correct" bolts and later decided to get my originals replated. The "correct" ones were not all that great.... The bolts that were replated look excellent!!!!! My recommendation is recondition the old bolts when possible.
I bought a "bolt blackening kit" from Eastwood for the "black phosphate" bolts. It works pretty good...........I also reused the alignment shims from the front and back suspension. Remember NOTE HOW MANY CAME FROM WHAT POSITION/LOCATION!!!

As a last comment, I purchased a book from the NCRS store "63-72 Frame Restoration" by Joe Tripoli. It has a lot of info that you could use including a list of bolts with descriptions that you could use as a list to mark up for you particuliar car. If you want to discuss further write me an e-mail.