1955 BSA C12 restoration

[martinandrewes]

Hi
Being new to this forum I would firstly like to thank you for allowing me aboard.
I am presently restoring an early (1955) C12 back to its original maroon and was wondering if someone could advise me on what to do with the bolt heads, washers and nuts around the the frame and engine mountings. I have tried to zoom in on some old photos and some online images and can't really tell if they would have been factory coloured or not. On some restored examples I have seen that many bolts look either brand new or are painted metallic colour. What would they have been originally? I am at a point now where I am ready to paint the frame sections, stand and mounting plates and am not sure whether to partly assemble the parts with the bolts in situ so as to colour them too. Many thanks for any advise you can give me
regards
Martin

[ducati2242]

Think originally they would have been cadmium plated , now banned I believe , Zinc coating is probably the nearest but if it were my rebuild i'd do it with stainless steel . Not to everyones taste but it is my favourite .

[martinandrewes]

Thanks for your reply, I'll definitely consider replacing the frame bolts with stainless. What about the smaller bolts and screws holding things like the painted mudguards and headlamp, would they have been colour coded? or metal coated too?

[ROYC]

Don't forget to put copper grease or never-seez on the bolts before tightening the nuts up. If the stainless nuts and bolts seize, you will never undo them.