We’ve found ARP fasteners for many different applications. This one is holding a motorcycle seat in place. Photo from imzzelite.com.

On our last trip through the ARP facilities, Chris Raschke, director of sales for the company, surprised us by intentionally refusing to answer a simple question. We had spotted an odd box of bolts being inventoried and asked, “Where are those going?”

“I can’t say,” he replied. We waited briefly for the “I can tell you but then I’d have to kill you” Tom Cruise quote from Top Gun, but Raschtke was stone-faced and quiet.

“No seriously. What are those for?” we asked again.

He sighed, looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was listening, and said, “We make fasteners that are used in many different applications around the world.” Then added, “And sometimes out of this world. Miles, and miles, and hundreds of miles out of this world. That’s all I can say.”

“Space Station,” we asked?

Then it happened: “I’d have to kill you.”  [Ahhhh … there it was]. We worked hard for that catchphrase but it was worth it. It was somehow very satisfying to know that we watched the same movies.

Photo from imzzelite.com.

The Seed

After that exchange, the seed was planted and we began thinking about how many other parts ARP actually offered to enthusiasts. Perhaps only enthusiasts (from this world) that could be talked about without the threat of great bodily harm. So we did a search through their official company website and discovered a couple of things.

• Number one: ARP makes kits and fasteners other than rod bolts, engine studs, and header bolts.
• Number two: ARP makes kits and fasteners that are for machines with less than four wheels.

In a somewhat less than extensive search, we managed to find some amazing products that we had no idea ARP manufactured – and we’ve toured their facilities many times!

Surprisingly, these items are easy enough to find by going to the company’s product page and performing a simple search. Enthusiasts can search for fasteners by vehicle make, by fastener type, or by kit type. We took a quick look through the kit search function where the pull-down menu gave us alphabetical choices of topics from accessory studs to weld bungs and wheel studs and nuts.

Our sophomoric sense of humor (and years of watching Bevis and Butthead) demanded we click on weld bungs to see what was there. Automatically we were exposed to 34 different weld bungs from a quarter-inch aluminum weld bung to a -20 female O-ring steel weld bung.

We realized that dealing with that many weld bungs we were threatening to have Bevis’ alter ego appear.

Tools, Motorcycle Parts

We also found listings for a spark plug indexing tool, piston ring square tool, 126 different piston ring compressors, oil pump primers, and even oil pump driveshafts. Obviously, a fastener company should be worried about threads, so they offer thread chasers for both SAE and Metric threads.

When you perform a fastener search by vehicle make, you will find parts and kits for every domestic and foreign automobile, both gas and diesel that you can think of. There are also listing for Briggs and Stratton, Caterpillar, Harley-Davidson, NASCAR, and Sea-Doo.    

Photo from imzzelite.com.

Here’s the funny part, these are only the items we found on their website. A quick google search revealed more kits that are not listed on their homepage. For instance, we found an ARP Foot Peg mounting bolt kit manufactured for a Harley-Davidson aftermarket supplier called  IMZZ elite. The site also lists ARP bolt kits for center consoles, seats, hand controls, fenders, and calipers.

If you thought that ARP fasteners were only available for automobile engines… you were wrong. Now you know where to go the next time you need a weld bung.

For more information about ARP Bolts and their extensive line of products, visit them at arp-bolts.com.