resipsa

I reported last week that my 02 C5Z had a date with the curb and the skid plate got badly damaged. (The car rolled out of my fairly level the driveway with the parking brake engaged and hit the curb after I left it for about 30 seconds to place my garbage can at the curb.)

The skid plate is mounted to the bottom of the two forward frame members by four bolts. Each bolt is held by a nut that appears to be made of brass and which is pushed into the frame, not welded. From the outside, the nut has a circular flange which abuts against the outer surface of the frame and prevents the nut from being pressed through the frame into the interior of the frame. The body of the nut is hexagonal and engages the edge of the receiving hole in the frame which is also hexagonally shaped (this arrangement prevents the nut from rotating in the frame hole). There must be some locking arrangment at the interior end of the nut opposite the circular flange which prevents the nut from being withdrawn from the hold in the frame once the nut has been installed in the frame.

In any case, one of these skid plate bolt retaining nuts was ripped out of the frame during the accident. Does anyone know where these nuts can be purchased? The parts guy at the local Chev dealer said that I would have to bring my car to a body shop to obtain these nuts. In addition, the same nuts (smaller size) are utilized in with new skid plate (they are used for example to fasten the bolts that attached the spring-loaded center section of the front spoiler). When I picked up the new skid plate, it did not come with these nuts (or with paint) and the nuts can not be removed from the old skid plate.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

joemoia

The nuts CAN be purchased at a Dealer's parts dept. There are 2 different sizes used on the skid bar (sorry I don't have the PN's). The problem is that the "exploded parts" drawing used by the Parts dept., which shows all the parts associated with the vette's front end, is difficult to read with respect to which part is which. I ended up bringing the drawing up to A & A Corvettes and Andy was able to figure out the correct PNs and got them from his local Chevy dealer.

resipsa

Joemoia,

Thanks for the info. Are these nuts called half-hex rivet nuts? I found a couple of websites that sell these nuts. They apparently install like rivets and require an installation tool. Did you require a special installation tool to install these nuts?

Thanks,

Paul

joemoia

Paul,

Since I had the car up at Andy's and needed some other work done, I ended up letting one of his techs do the paint/replacement. I don't know if they needed a special tool or not. Andy called the parts "nut-serts". I believe the Corvette parts lists just calls them "nuts". You may want to call him at A & A tomorrow for further info.

Joe M

resipsa

Thanks Joe. Much appreciated. Have a great holiday.

Paul

93zm6tally

Don't know where you live but here in Tallahassee my local Ace Hardware store carries a good assortment of these nuts. I honestly haven't had to look for any for my Vette but they had almost the exact replacements for my 93 Z28. Most of the bigger Ace Hardware stores have a really good collection of hard to find items, lots of Grade 8 bolts and auto specific stuff.

resipsa

If I cant get them at the dealer, Ill check there. Thanks

hotwheels57

You can purchase generic light use "nut serts" in various thread sizes, either in steel or aluminum from the local ACE or TRUE VALUE. The tool that is used to insert the "nut sert" is also available (kit form w/ inserts)...but it is only intended for very thin gauge applications, not heavy gauge metal applications. I'm talking sheet metal thickness up to no more than 1/8" thickness.
You will definately damage the tool and end up with an improperly partially installed "nut sert" which won't be seated. Then you'll have to drill it out which isn't easy since it'll spin.
Do yourself a favor and go to the dealership body shop or someone that has the extra heavy duty installation tool. It looks similar to a rivet install tool.

resipsa

Thanks for the info, however, the skid bar assembly on the C5 is made of a thin gauge steel and is about 1/16 of an inch in thickness. Thats why it bends so easily and weighs nothing. In any case, there are seven 6M X 1 rivet nuts and one 8M X 1.25 rivet nut used in the skid bar assembly (the size refers to the thread size of the rivet nut). The rivet nuts allow the center spoiler, air pump and horn assembly to be bolted to the skid plate. The main frame of the car has four 8M X 1.25 rivet nuts installed therein which allow the skid bar assembly to be bolted to the main frame. The smaller 6M X 1 rivet nuts, which I purchased from Chevy and came in GM marked plastic bags, look very light duty and easy to crush. The larger 8M X 1.25 rivet nuts used with the skid bar assembly and the main frame have the same part number and also look light duty and easy to crush. I am not familar with the installation tool sold at ACE or TRUE VALUE, but the one I'm purchasing from Maryland Metrics costs $25 (you need to buy two of these tools, one for each size of rivet nut). It basically consists of a hex-shape base and a nut threaded to a first end of a threaded mandrel that extends through the base. In operation, the rivet nut is threaded to a second end of the mandrel and inserted into the hole of the panel (frame). The base holds the rivet nut in hole while rotation of the nut withdraws the mandrel through the base. I think the Maryland Metric tool will work fine to install these rivets nuts.