Fabrication Hardware (Misc)

Fabrication hardware covers the small parts that finish a build: reinforcement for welded joints, seals, locking wire, tapes and fixings. This catch-all holds steel gussets, FKM O-rings, stainless lockwire, cloth, silicone and anti-slip tapes, hook-and-loop strips and quick-release pipe clamps.

A gusset spreads the load at a welded corner. Without one, bending concentrates stress at the toe of the weld, where fatigue cracks start, so a bracket or tube joint that keeps flexing can crack there in time. Lockwire works differently from a locknut or a thread-locker: it is threaded through drilled fasteners and twisted, so a fastener can only loosen by stretching or breaking the wire.

The range sorts into these groups:

• Gussets: curved and closed steel gussets for 30, 45, 60 and 90 degree joints. There is also a straight curved-model gusset, an A-support and a flat reinforcement plate of 500 × 75 × 1 mm.
• O-rings: FKM, a fluoro rubber that resists fuel, oil and heat, sized by inside diameter and cross-section from 7.5 × 1.6 mm to 29.5 × 3.0 mm.
• Lockwire: stainless steel, on a 0.45 kg spool.
• Tapes: tank tape, a strong cloth tape, in 50 m × 50 mm rolls and several colours. Silicone tape comes in 3 m × 25 mm rolls, anti-slip tape in 5 m × 20 mm or 2 m × 50 mm.
• Clamps and fixings: quick-release clamp assemblies for 2.5 in and 3.0 in pipe and a 19 mm nylon T-piece. Self-adhesive hook-and-loop comes as separate top and bottom strips, and there is a tonneau pin screw.

Weld steel gussets only to steel, cleaned to bright metal, and avoid starting or stopping a weld at the gusset’s tip. Roll cage rules often govern gusset size and position, so check yours first. Lockwire must pull each fastener in its tightening direction; use fresh wire every time and bend the pigtail back so it cannot snag.

FKM suits fuel and oil but not glycol-based brake fluid, which needs EPDM seals. Lubricate O-rings with a fluid compatible with the system and never roll them into the groove. Tapes hold properly only on clean, dry and warm surfaces.