S/S and aluminum

Before someone points out the known incapatability issues between Stainless Steel (fasteners) and aluminum (AL-UM-IN-UM) :evil: , I'll substantiate my choice of using S/S button heads on the '80 carbs I just re & re'd and pictured recently.

Because I do not "Wash" (read that "flood and submerge" with a bucket & hose) my bike to clean it which would possably speed up the electrolytic inter-action and more importantly because every winter I tear them apart and clean them, I'm OK with my choice. There would be a completely different thought process if I NEVER removed parts as the interaction would certainly and eventually seize the screw threads and that would buggar things up. Yes, I could have put a "Never-Seize" product on each screw but that stuff is messy and the advantage not likely to be fully experienced between seasonal rebuilding.

whew......that could have been close ! :woohoo:

AL-U-MINI-UM ... that's how us aussie say it

just plain ALI.. here

I used that messy stuff to stop them all growing but at least i have shiney bits . you lost me at the wash bit, that implies that the bike got dirty at some point in the shed under the cover. :whistle:

I guess the point I was making is that I "don't do dirt roads" so to speak. My riding nowadays is short runs on asphalt. I've done my share of rain-days in the past. I can clean her with a damp rag, some Amorall and wax.

But, Scotch, the original screws are steel with a cad plating, so they are just as susceptible to electrolysis corrosion as the stainless, even more. I wouldn't worry about stainless at all unless you lived in a city that salts the roads for ice, like here in Kansas City, and you ride in it. Also, there has to be a source of electron flow for the corrosion to happen. Not much chance with float bowl screws.

The instrument housing on my 25 year old buggy is made of aluminum with stainless fasteners and they are still clean and workable. The turbo on that car is half aluminum and half cast iron, with stainless fasteners. There are lots more aluminum/steel/stainless/cast-iron interfaces on that car that are still in perfect shape after 25 years.

Here's a pic of those stainless 10-32 flathead screws holding aluminum covers to an aluminum housing. (yellow arrow)