Got a Rear Rack, but No Hardware - What To Get?
 

I scored a rear rack, but it didn't come with any hardware, so I'm heading out to the hardware store to get some nuts and bolts and washers and whatnot.

One problem is that the arms of the rack don't reach the bosses on the seat stay. I've seen little parts that connect the two, a flat piece of metal that is twisted. What are they called? Can I get some at the HW store? Or the bike shop?

you can get those at a bike shop. They've even given them to me.

I think Performance will have to protect their bottom line, so they'll sell it to me like they sold me barrels for cables and dérailleurs :D.

If for some reason you can't get them locally, you can search for "rack extender" here.

Go to you LBS, sometimes the manufacturer comps them these types of parts for free to improve as part of brand loyalty and customer satisfaction/relations.

Any decent shop will have a small box full of rack hardware. They collect it when a customer buys a rack and has it installed, but the stock hardware doesn't work.

No LBS has them for free. One has the Delta rack extender.

The braze ons on the rear seatstay and the mounting holes on the rack are parallel. Some of the rack extenders I've seen "twist". Are they malleable?

Yes, but they'll weaken if you bend them back and forth a lot. One time shouldn't be a problem. Vise-grips are your friend.

Also, I recommend socket head fasteners instead of buttonhead. The buttonheads have shallow hex sockets whereas a traditional socket head has a deep one. I had mucho problemo with stripping on the buttonheads that came with my rack. I ended up getting stainless steel fasteners because they're cheap and corrosion proof.

I got buttonheads, but with philips screw heads. <goes back yet again to the HW store>. :D

Usually you can buy some flat metal stock at the hardware store along with the bolts.