I'm planning on make all the bolts that are touching chrome, chrome. Does anyone have a recommonded supplier? Am I able to take one bolt out and reinstalled it with the new bolt and torque it for each part of the engine or do i have to remove all the bolts for that part then reinstall it?
For the bolts on black, common since tells me to use a high temp primer and high temp paint. I might paint those bolts while they are still on the bike.
polished stainless would probably result in less maintenance. I did all chrome on my very first Harley - and wish I hadn't. Problem is where you apply the tool the chrome rusts thru.
I bought the Harley chrome socket heads and they constantly "bleed" rust.
I use naval jelly on a q-tip to clean them up but think I"ll replace with polished
stainless and skip the extra detailing.
Hot toppers are great, except on places they can get hot! ie: cam cover, primary, and most of all tappet block. I know, I had them in these places, one afternoon they melted, what a mess!
polished stainless would probably result in less maintenance.
+1 Chrome look better....for a week or 2. In the long run you are better off with the polished stainless.
Try some Hot-Toppers and just cover them
-1 As somebody who works on bike 5 days a week, hot toppers are absolute crap. First off you have to take them off to remove or replace parts or when checking torque specs. Secondly, I have never seen any bike with a full set after more than 2 miles on the road unless there was a pound and a half of silicon adhesive used to attach them. I know some people like them as a cheap way to add some chrome but I've always felt that if you want a chrome part, get a chrome part not some cheesy cover.
IMHO I think hot toppers look great. I have used the same ones for 9 years now. Transferring from one bike to another when I bought a new one. They still look good.
I forgot to mention the last time I used chrome bolts was in 1998. I changed them one at a time, torqueing each one. Then I put chrome plugs in the hex holes.