posted 06-30-2006 11:51 PM ET (US)        

See previous thread: http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/010810.html

All attempts to find stainless flat head barrel nuts were fruitless and I was about to give up when I stumbled across the fact that the fastener industry apparently refers to what we were calling barrel nuts as "sex bolts!" With that piece of valuable information I found that Accurate Manufactured Products Group Inc. made flat head sex bolts in stainless steel.

Here’s a link to their catalog (the stainless flat head sex bolts are on page C29):
http://accuratemfg.com/CATALOGS/Architect Catalog Web Current.pdf

Their Order Number Z5026 looked like the closest thing to what I wanted so I e-mailed them to ask if they made that stainless sex bolt in 10-24 (the original Whaler screws are 10-24). They did not, so I figured I’d settle for the 10-32 version and just replace the screws too. Accurate Manufactured Products then told me that their distributor is Fastenal.

So I went back to the Fastenal website, after previous searches following up on Plotman’s suggestion had not found any barrel nuts, and finally found the sex bolts buried under Products/Fasteners/Screws/Binding Post Screws! (No wonder no one could find a stainless barrel nut!)

To save you all that searching, here’s a link to the sex bolts on the Fastenal site: http://www.fastenal.com/web/products/detail.ex?sku=0123400

I also lucked out in that Fastenal had just within the last few months opened stores in Hawaii, on Oahu. I called the nearest one of them and they were very helpful. They didn’t have any stainless flat head sex bolts in stock but shipped some in for me and also supplied the mating stainless 10-32 oval head Phillips screws. The Fastenal folks in the Pearl City store are first class and I recommend that ukuslayer and other locals give them a call for any stainless fasteners, especially if you need the stainless flat head barrel nuts/sex bolts.

Installation of the new stainless sex bolts was simple. I enlarged the through-hole in the fish box lid from 1/4" to 5/16" and the countersink for the flat head to suit. And that was it; repair complete and fish box lid as secure as when new, and should last longer too.

So, all you fellow Whaler owners with hinges on your fish box lids, anchor locker lids, live well lids, storage box lids, wherever a "barrel nut" is used, whenever you want to upgrade to a stainless sex bolt, you now know where to find them. And just think what a conversation starter it will be when you mention that you have "sex bolts" on your Whaler ;).