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Hello all,
I know this may have been covered before. I am looking at keeping my Twin Cam long term and was putting together ARP bolt kits for the long term. Do you all replace them as the bike is, and just torque them down according to the manual? Or something different? I found a low mileage Slim and was just wanting to replace the fasteners with ARP, for looks and for hoping I this bike will be here long after I am gone. Thanks and God Bless.
Hello all,
I know this may have been covered before. I am looking at keeping my Twin Cam long term and was putting together ARP bolt kits for the long term. Do you all replace them as the bike is, and just torque them down according to the manual? Or something different? I found a low mileage Slim and was just wanting to replace the fasteners with ARP, for looks and for hoping I this bike will be here long after I am gone. Thanks and God Bless.
As mentioned above, I have used several Alloy Boltz kits on my Harleys. Their polished ARP stainless fasteners look like chrome. I have never used/seen there "Show Polished" fasteners. They must be real shiny...
I just do the fasteners one at a time. I remove one, put some blue Loctite 243 on the new one (just a dab) then install it torquing it to spec. They suggest using either blue Loctite or anti-seize to prevent the dissimilar metals (stainless steel & aluminum) from galvanic corrosion.
You can buy the alloy Boltz in smaller groups like for an outer primary cover, or in a full engine kit. There will always be one fastener that you can't readily get to. The recurring one for me is a trans cover bolt, right behind the clutch cable. I just leave that one bolt, set aside in a labelled bag, until I happen to pull the clutch cable . You will also have to pull, or at least loosen, the exhaust to get the cam chest bolts all replaced.
I like the look, and the 12-pt fasteners seem more "sturdy" than the allen head fasteners...
Here's a few pics of the ARP 12-pt fasteners form Alloy Boltz on my '01 Springer
Last edited by hattitude; Mar 18, 2025 at 08:40 AM.
Thanks for the info. I have read elsewhere, on other auto focused forums, to not use Loctite on ARP fasteners. Is that just something for car and truck engines? Also, do you all use the ARP lubricant for fasteners that don’t call for Loctite? One last thing, would it be best to follow the torque sequence in order per the manual or in reverse order since the fasteners are already torqued to spec?
Thanks for the info. I have read elsewhere, on other auto focused forums, to not use Loctite on ARP fasteners. Is that just something for car and truck engines? Also, do you all use the ARP lubricant for fasteners that don’t call for Loctite? One last thing, would it be best to follow the torque sequence in order per the manual or in reverse order since the fasteners are already torqued to spec?
Reference the loctite,
I don't have the actual wording, but Alloy Bolts recommends the blue locktite or anti-seize when installing their Stainless Steel fasteners.
In the case of Stainless Steel bolts in a Harley, you are putting SS bolts into aluminum threads. The dissimilar metals can cause galvanic corrosion and the bolts could seize without it.
I have used blue 243 loctite on all my stainless fasteners from Alloy Boltz. I have done this on five engines now. No ill affects. The only down side is the debris on the threads when removing & reassembling a part/bolt that used locktite. That can be mitigated by not using a lot of loctite, just a dab. It is also my practice, whether locktite is used or not, that I chase the threads of any fastener and it's threaded hole, whenever I remove a fastener and before I re-install the fastener. So it's never been an issue to me.
Reference the torque sequence,
When I replace bolts, I will often replace them in the order of the torque sequence (ie: cam chest cover, primary cover, rocker cover, etc), but I doubt that is necessary.. I replace them one at a time. Since the torque is released on only one fastener at a time, the sequence really shouldn't matter.
) if you can and blow them out before installing your new bolt with blue or red Loctite depending on the circumstance, I have been working my bike over for a few years doing bolts as I find them and can access them and as of this winter it is 99.5% stock fastener free, including inside the engine case. You'll see some OEM bolts in these pics and they've been replaced, including the tiny nut on the ground post by the starter.
Does anyone have experience with BAMCO? They claim their black ARP bolts are stainless steel and black oxidized in house. Just wondering if that’s a fact and not the standard chrome molly bolts that you would find from other specialty shops that sell kits or from the catalogs. I understand it’s probably easy to order the bolts individually but I am willing to spend the extra for a kit and replace down the road.
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ARP Bolt Replacement
