[jerryweichers]

specialk,
i have not ever nor would i compare my ability to carroll smith. in fact i believe he is on the record that hardware store bolts have no place in a race car . i also believe he taught that if you have to use other than air craft hardware you should buy them at a farm / heavy equipment /tractor supply and only use high quality name brands. on the issue of hydrogen embrittlement if you buy non plated bolts you can have them plated by a plater that knows what he is doing , preferably someone who does aircraft plating and he will properly bake them after plating to remove the problem of embrittlement all i know is how little i know but the guy who taught me was crew chief on denny hulmes mcclaren M20 canam car while it was being raced in the european interseries and that car has tons of grade 8. further and probably more important in my opinion is installing bolts with proper grip length, regards ,jerry