[kevin6s]

My old Trek has been sitting in the backyard shed for years now and basically every screw has rust on the head. I went to Home Depot and Lowes but all that resulted in was a waste of time. I'm thinking about just polishing off the rust with my rotary tool and spraying a quick clearcoat on the head to avoid further rusting. That is unless someone knows where I can pickup replacements for cheap.

The Trek is my side project so I'm in no rush...

 

[logbiter]

My old Trek has been sitting in the backyard shed for years now and basically every screw has rust on the head. I went to Home Depot and Lowes but all that resulted in was a waste of time. I'm thinking about just polishing off the rust with my rotary tool and spraying a quick clearcoat on the head to avoid further rusting. That is unless someone knows where I can pickup replacements for cheap.

The Trek is my side project so I'm in no rush...

most screws on the bike are going to be M4, M5, M6 & (maybe) M8. a decent hardware store or bicycle shop will be able to set you up for ~$0.50/screw. stainless screws cost a bit more, but will help w/ the rust problem. I like to replace button tops w/ socket tops, as they're harder to round out.

that said, some surface rust is no big deal, I'd be more worried about making sure that all the bolts are lubed in the threads.
I use a corrosion block spray on the bikes that live outside, it dries w/ a waxy protective coating. something like boeshield T9 will also work (it's also good chainlube for dry conditions).

clearcoat will break off when you use the bolts & will likely keep water under what's left of it's coating.

oh yeah, you can get screws online at loosescrews.com

 

[kevin6s]

Its more surface rust on the heads of the screws since they are exposed. The rest of the screw is fine. I did try to "refurbish" some older screws and they came out OK. I polished all the rust off, cleaned them up with alcohol then sprayed a quick Rustoleum clear. I haven't put them back on the bike yet but it seemed to work.

 

[logbiter]

Its more surface rust on the heads of the screws since they are exposed. The rest of the screw is fine. I did try to "refurbish" some older screws and they came out OK. I polished all the rust off, cleaned them up with alcohol then sprayed a quick Rustoleum clear. I haven't put them back on the bike yet but it seemed to work.

sometimes these types of refurb projects are fun, just depends on what I figure my time vs cost of new (& ease of finding new).
Like I said, my only worry with the 'refurb' project is that the clearcoat might hold water underneath & cause more rust than otherwise, but since you've done it, reinstall bolts w/ grease or anti-sieze (for static applications) on the threads & go!
oh, and by re-reading my previous post, I felt I should make it clear that I use the corrosion block on just the scew/bolt heads & grease/anti-sieze the threads.