Bolt Head Markings

[Jeff Hansen]

Waaaay back in the day, prior to the current system of markings on bolt heads to indicate their grade, manufacturers put their initials or some coding that referenced their company on bolt heads.  Such examples are "W1C" and "TR" and are found on Cadillacs of the 1940s. 

I recall reading at one point the manufacturer names these codes stood for.  I can't recall if it was in The Self-Starter or on this forum.  I know I've seen it, I just can't remember where.  A forum search turned up nothing and the indices of The Self-Starter articles also didn't turn up anything.

Does anybody remember such an article of post?

Thanks!
Jeff

[harry s]

Jeff, I remember that discussion also. It was here on the forum and the person with the information was Bobby Bender. My time machine is out of wack so I'm not sure how long ago.     Harry

[TMoore - NTCLC]

This might be the thread you are thinking of:

http://forums.cadillaclasalleclub.org/index.php?topic=133404.msg285233#msg285233

Probably not the thread you were looking for - but something else to add to the mix:

http://forums.cadillaclasalleclub.org/index.php?topic=128341.msg253330#msg253330

[fishnjim]

Unified thread standard came in 1949.   
If you're trying to ID a bolt, those are probably manufacturers stamps, not grade info.  jb is another one.   Or have a specific question?
The buyer would've specified the specification for the bolt.   
SAE more or less controlled that whole thing for autos, so you can learn from their site.   SAE is typical grade 5, unless otherwise specified.
IF you're just wanting to re-read that article, no recall/info here.   As far as I know there's no online copy to search the starters.   So maybe you saw it somewhere else?

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

The info referenced in this thread is correct.

http://forums.cadillaclasalleclub.org/index.php?topic=133404.msg285233#msg285233

The head-stamps on the bolts such as "TR", "WB",
etc. denoted the manufacturer of the hardware. 
There were also unmarked bolts in the mix as well.

There was no attempt to use all of the same
head-stamp when assembling the cars.  The line
workers had the bolts in buckets that were filled
as needed with no regard for keeping them all
identical.

The Corvette people have their "Bloomington Gold"
style judging insisting that all the bolt stamps need
to match but that's not how they rolled off the line in
the 50's.  My '55 Eldorado had a mix of bolt head-stamps
and that's how it was restored as well. 

Mike

[Jeff Hansen]

Gentlemen,

THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH!  The thread referenced by Tod and Mike was the one I was thinking of.  I appreciate you hunting it down for me!  I want to include that bolt head information - and the fact there could be bolts from different manufacturers on a car - in the upcoming second edition of the Class 12 Authenticity Manual but could not recall where I saw it.

One again, the club's forum members come through! 

Kind regards to all,
Jeff