stainless steel nuts bolts and washers

[godspeed]

I know dumb question, I finally found a sump for my 0320 lycoming engine I am fixing to plant on the front of my rv9a (getting closer ever day) anyway I have alot of 1/4 stainless lock washers 316 ss nuts and 316 ss washers and 316 ss bolts that will work fine on the sump and intake hose clamps to the intake side of the cylenders, whats the opinion of using stainless ? good enough or could this present a problem down the road ? gaulding ? ect.. any ideas ?

Danny..

[tacchi88]

SS nuts and bolts are a good idea if the proper material is used. The "softer" general SS is not a good idea. They have the propensity of galling, (nut and bolt combo) which will not make it easy to remove. The common 18-8 we see used for covers and fairings is soft, and stretches easly as well. On the other hand, the high grade SS bolts, nuts and studs will work well, but will be very pricy. ARP (www,arp-bolts.com) fasteners used in racing engines have an excellent treatise on fasteners. Too bad they don't make rod bolts for Lycomings.
T88
RV10

[osxuser]

What he said. But I'd like to add that I've never had a problem with the "regular" cad plated lycoming hardware. It doesn't really corrode in from my personal experience. All I'm saying is, there isn't a real advantage to using SS in this particular application.