I took off everything including gfx's of the car in preparation for stripping and priming. A lot of bolts and screws are really rusty.

People who did something like this (or who otherwise would know what to do), did you reuse all the bolts/screws/nuts, or get new ones? Biggest problem is some things appear as a studs (i.e. one side sits solid in the plastic while a threaded side is sticking out). I don't even know if those ones are replacable. Anyone?

Also more general question, since all the panels will look like new, I really don't want to reuse original bolts/screws anywhere if I don't have to. Is there a good place to get new replacements, or do you have to go to hardware store and manually try to match what fits?

 

For GFX hardware, you are better off shopping at an auto body and paint supply. It's the best place to find body bolts, tapping screws, clips, push-in reatiners, etc.

If your old fasteners are rusty, I would replace them.

 

then there is also rivets, but I can deal with those.

Those tapping screws is probably what I was most wondering about. I've tried taking one out, but they seem to be pretty solid in there. any tricks?

Also what about when there is a metal strip and it has 2 or 3 bolts going through it. Can those be replaced as one piece, or do I have to buy bolts and fabricate my own metal strip (drill holes and weld the bolts to it)

 

the self tapping scres are a dima a dozen at any hardware store, i use them for grounding alarm systems under the dash of cars, and probably have about 10,000 screws in my toolbox