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While restoring a heavlity abused Wild Willy I came to terms noting I needed to replace many of the screws and it raised this question. Outside of buying kit specific screw bags is there anywhere selling tamiya screws by bulk? I could use some for other kits I've rebuilt also. I know I could get most of the proper sized screws from a small local hardware store but they wouldn't look correct,

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hi, if you are wanting to restore the kit back to original then it has to be Tamiya screws, there are lots of screw and bolt suppliers out there and Tamiya used jis cross point heads and metric threads so I am sure you could find pretty close alternatives . good luck

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Screw bags are the cheapest route to tamiya items, but also look for screw bags for other tamiya models than the one you're rebuilding. Often you get more for your money !

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That's what I mostly do, too, if I'm missing certain screws for a car. Especially regarding self tappers and suspension screw pins, one can't fail with some DT-01 and DT-02 screw bags. They come with a variety of screw types, sizes and lengths. And they are cheaper in the long run than buying several bags of single screw types.

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Screw bags are the way to go. Often you can find dirt cheap bags that contains some, most, or even all of the parts you want for pennies on the dollar.

I recently bought a huge lot of hardware and even a few nice parts trees for about $30 just by asking for "old" Tamiya parts at a hobby shop in a town I visited. They had an old box of stuff in the back room and made me a killer price on the lot of it since they weren't selling it in the back room anyway - it was just gathering dust. I literally got hundreds of nuts, bolts, screws, washers, o-rings, etc. for almost nothing. Actually, just a few of the parts trees and Parma hop-ups were worth the entire cost, and the rest was just gravy.

Several screw bags for the Fox, Brat, Monster Beetle, etc. literally cost me like .67 cents. Some of the cars I don't even own, but hey, a 3mm x 10mm self tapping screw will work on about 100% of Tamiya models, right? I can't even tell you how much grief it has saved me over the years to have a nice stash of spare hardware sitting on my workbench. It is pretty rare that I have a model down for any extended period of time waiting for a particular nut, bolt, screw, etc.

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I think it would depend on what you work on the most. Some models take long screws that are almost never used elsewhere and some like the hotshot have a lot of the stepped screws like shock mount type. For me it would be something with a load of the smallest screws and nuts. I loose them the most often and thier the hardest to get locally.

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You're better off not using cheep Tamiya screws. For a start they'll rust (they're not stainless) and second they're very soft. They're also unnecessarily expensive, even in screw bags.

Try here: http://www.rcscrewz.com/

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I've been considering converting my Fox runner to all stainless hex bolts. I get the sets pretty cheap in sets from Harley on RCCrawlers.com, and it covers most of the sizes I use most. Sure there are some specific sizes I had to order, but I think in the long run, these bolts are stronger and don't strip as easily.

djmcnz, that's a great link. The sets are really priced.

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Are stainless steel bolts regarded as being generally stronger than galvanized steel ones? I'm not so sure about that. There are other R/C hardware stores that are claiming the opposite.

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I rebuild everything with stainless hex capscrews, even my shelfers' if i cant find the size i need then I cut them down with a dremel and shape up the ends with model files, I get bags of 10 - 20 for around £1.50 to £2.00 depending on size' even M2, also washers and lock nuts.

As I like to clean my cars after a few runs I dont have to worry about stripping the heads off or that nasty screw driver slip, Hex is your friend!

Bolt Base on ebay is my one stop screw shop!

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Are stainless steel bolts regarded as being generally stronger than galvanized steel ones? I'm not so sure about that. There are other R/C hardware stores that are claiming the opposite.

Generally speaking stainless will be lighter (edit: bend easier) than mild steel (without alteration), galvanizing is just a coating process, it doesn't alter the underlying material. Material is only one factor, manufacturing standards are actually more important for me. Consistant, tight tolerances with deep and centred heads is what I look for. I don't think you'd notice the difference in strength between SS and MS.

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it's funny - i'd been meaning to talk about this a little. not that i have much to say... but personally i've sources screws mainly from various either application appropriate or otherwise tamiya screw bags. i'm not sure when they switched from the more yellow/golden hardware to the silver-looking stuff but i STRONGLY prefer the older yellow parts. between the two the yellow metal seems much stronger and is denser/heavier - which i prefer. also the yellow metal is more magnetic which helps when using magnetic-tipped drivers. as someone mentioned, none of tamiya's hardware is strip-proof and i've had a number of frustrated experiences where i've had to replace screws or even drill them out. BUT i think they probably actually wanted to use slightly soft metal since these screws are predominantly screwing into or through plastic, which is even softer.

as for which bags are the best bang for buck i've been pretty happy with clodbuster bags. basically, the bigger the model the more screws, and they don't necessarily scale 1:1 pricewise. i've actually been toying with the idea of getting the official tamiya spare hardware kit which has most screws and small bits all sorted and pre-labeled, but i've held off so far because i'm not sure if it's all the new silver metal or not. would have pulled the trigger already if i knew it was the older metal.

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I would be a bit careful when using Stainless steel screws in aluminum. This can give heavy corrosion of the aluminum and "eat" the aluminum away.... Best combination with aluminum is zinc plated screws!

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The yellow-zinc coated screws of years past are the most corrosion resistant. The coating itself is quite toxic though, so Tamiy switched to a darker almost black chrome looking coating (no idea what it was). In recent years I think that too was deemed toxic, so Tamiya has switched to silver hardware.

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I have bought 3 sets of these & love them.

I use the counter sung screws on the underside of the chassis and the button everywhere else including motor screws. For the price and hex key they are great.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Stainless-Screw-Set-400pcs-FREE-Mini-box-suit-1-10-RC-Tamiya-TRAXXAS-HPI-/400374740204?pt=AU_Toys_Hobbies_Radio_Controlled_Vehicles&hash=item5d3831b4ec#ht_891wt_1037

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wow, how toxic are the yellow and black screws? those are my favorites! i don't usually put them in my mouth, but don't we all from time to time? no? it's like licking 9-volt batteries for the great taste. or is that too molecularly gastronomic for you guys?

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