Chassis fastener color - what looks best ?

[Trevor]

I'm sending all my chassis fasteners (nuts, bolts, clips etc.) off to the plater soon, but I can't decide if they should be 'shiny' (zinc) or black (phosphate).
My frame, suspension, chassis will be (satin) black and the cast iron steering parts, plus shocks and a few other pieces will be 'cast-iron' (dark grey).

The 'original' bolts were uncoated or at best 'phosphate and oil' so technically black phosphate would be most 'correct' but (from experience) I know that can be a bit of a pain if you find you're missing a nut or lock washer at assembly time
(the whole chassis is all perfectly black except for that one nut ! ...).

Any opinions/experiences to help sway me one way or the other would be most appreciated !

[Leftlane]

Black phosphste would be the easiet to match if you need to replace an occasional fastener. You can do that at home in a pinch.
In my opinion...zinc would look more detailed and probably provide better resistance to oxidation and corrosion over the long term. You can zinc plate at home as well, just a bit more trouble.

Both will probably out live us.
I prefer the contrast of zinc.

[Grumpy old man]

Black as they should be . Zinc will stick out like Rudolph's red nose and look tacky
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[Jason Banks]

See if you can get them to do Black Zinc....I have some fasteners plated at work, if I'm in a hurry I get black oxide because they run that all the time....if I can wait I get black zinc...

[jocko]

black something, just black.

[davepl]

Black would be the most correct but I don't think contrast is "tacky". Yeah, chrome bolts would be weird, but zinc plated, clean fasteners in a black chassis, as well as gold cad looking Grade 8 hardware, looks nice to me.

I appreciate the contrast and detail look, even if not correct. Do what you like, you don't have to answer to anyone.

Here's a pic where the fasteners are all zinc plated, incorrectly. If you look at the rad support you can see it. Not everyone's cup of tea perhaps, but I like it.

[suprachrgd82]

Stainless hex-heads