Rusty bolt heads

[metal-chicken]

I'm sure my 225 isn't the only one with a number of rusted bolt heads!
It looks rubbish and is a little disappointing given the cost of the engines but at least it seems to be limited to the bolts holding brackets on, etc.

Is there any reason why I cannot buy a bunch of stainless M6 flange bolts (20mm and 30mm seem to be the commonest lengths) and swap them out before the heads are too far gone?
[I won't be touching any important bolts!)

 

[metal-chicken]

This is what I'm talking about...

 

[johnnygjr]

Wire brush them and paint is the cheap route,stainless is the $$ route,can't hurt

 

[jgmo]

You won't be hurting a thing. Go for it!

 

[chawk_man]

Agree that SS substitutes are fine EXCEPT for any high torque bolts. Off-the-shelf SS is normally too soft for high torque applications. For that you need a higher grade SS that contains a higher level of steel alloy and carbon..

 

[metal-chicken]

Cleaning and painting them seems like a pain and will ultimately fail - I'd much rather spend $10 and fit new bolts. I certainly won't be touching anything with high torque ... they all seem to fine anyway so are probably higher quality.

 

[racerone]

Stainless will be fine.----------High torque on bolts also needs very strong threads in the nut or part that the bolt goes into.-------------Torque on outboards is limited by the aluminum casting parts.

 

[Skooter]

Im in the same boat...lol...In the past, I have ordered new replacements and coat them with anti corrosion.

 

[chawk_man]

Racerone - good point. That's for the clarification.

 

[mf70]

You might also want to check to see if there's some reason those bolt heads rusted. In my case, the factory flush-out fitting was backflowing slightly.