I am really having problems with the fact that i live in the middle of neanderthal's no-where ville.
I have 12, 3/8th inch rivet-nut-serts that i am wanting to use to get solid frame add-on mounted but no-one around here has or rents the large rivet gun for them. Is there another way to mount these in my frame? I found a small torsional bearing race that i could set against the face of the serts. Now if i tack weld the serts to prevent turning will this be enough to squeeze the serts against the frame while torquing in a bolt? If that sounds possible would i need to worry about the tack causing the frame to crack around it later? Any-one who has used these PLEASE tell me if there is a way with-out spending over $250 on a tool i would probably never use again.
Thank-you all.

 

I would not weld them for fear of weakening the frame and having problems later. Are there any body shops nearby? Most body shops have them and maybe a loaner?

 

I tried every rental place around here as well as 6 of the larger body shops...All of them have the tiny ones but not the larger gun and nose insert.

 

Do you have any large colleges nearby? When I installed my x-brace I had a buddy who is an electrician at a major college, he was able to borrow the tool for me. Also try chassis shops that specialize in race cars. The tool I used resembled a big pop rivet gun.

 

What you want is a marson part number 34604 and they are less than $150.00 retail. www.blindrivetsupply.com

 

What type of X-frame are you installing and did the nutserts come with it? The R-D Racing X-frame and roll bar I have both came with nutserts and a simple but extremely effective tool for installing the nutserts. You could make it yourself quite easily. It's simply a piece of flat bar stock with a hole drilled near one end of it. Put the nutsert in the hole, the bolt through the tool and into the nutsert until finger tight. Now put the wrench on it. The steel piece will turn and lock against whatever gets in it's way. Continue tightening until you feel the nutsert draw up snugly. Remove the bolt and go on to the next one.

 

JimmyS5600 had a Nutsert issue in 2006-07 that he was able to
resolve without special tools.

? on Installing R-D cross frame brace

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I use a tool that you hold thread into teh riv-nut. Hold the stud with an allen wrench and then turn the body of the tool with a 3/4" wrench. Check some of the supply houses. McMaster Carr?

 

I think i understand what all of these ideas are getting at. Use a bolt to apply the pressure to the threads to pull the rivet like neck into the bach side of the frame. The problem that faces me now is that the stupid nut-serts i bought don't have the grooves to give me the inteferance fit to keep it in place while turning the bolt??? I wonder if searching for a slightly larger die to partly apply a course thread down the outside neck of the serts would give me just enough bite into the frame to allow me to sqeeze the neck down??? It is that or one good spot weld on the edge of the sert to hold it like i was thinking at the start. I just think that i might cause cracking at the spot weld from the flexing over time.
Maybe grooving the outer collar would allow me to get some bite into Corvette Kid's bar idea if i groove around the hole in the bar also? I am instaling 3 peices. 1, a stock convertable cross frame, 2, a custom roll bar to stiffen out the rear(mine will still allow the roof to be stowed also), and 3, a custom hitch that is hidden under the Greenwood rear tunnel and quickly removed for shows or track events...I know most people hate my tailgunner trailer idea...but i need the space for tools, tires, show tents, etc. All 3 will be causing flex and stress to the frame at the nut-serts, so they must be SOLID.

 

Thank-you for that info. If my threading and/or groving ideas don't work i may just break down and buy it...I might find use for it on future builds. The local fastenall quoted (attempted rape) $208.00 for #34604, and another $25.15 (pluss tax and 10.00 shipping for both) for the required nose peice, #34619. Your site is 14.00 for each of them. I just can't beleive you have to buy a different nose peice for each size you use.... That adds up quick.

 

Why not make your own tool? Corvette Kid has told you all you need to know, makes a lot more sense than welding or trying to thread the outside of the nutsert.

 

Be aware that the bolt remains stationary. A nut running on the bolt thread
up against the shoulder of the Nutsert (or the anvil of the dedicated tool)
is what applies the riveting action.

How much would 12 more Nutserts with the serated shoulder cost
relative to the tool outlay to continue with these non-serated ones?

If determined to use the existing parts, or if the holes are too big now
for serated shoulders to grab, why won't the techniques described in
JimmyS5600's thread work? If necessary, pre-expand the shells on the
bench to achieve a snug fit in the hole (assuming you have spare
Nutserts for trial & error.)

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Well, I got 8 of the bolts/serts on the cross bar...
I got 9 on the roll bar... , But the 10th one seems to have stripped or something and now i cant get the nut and bolt out, and the sert just keeps spinning, spinning, spinning... Several of them started spinning under the nut, so i just backed them off and squeezed body shims against them when i installed the part and then the bolt and nut were able to coninue compressing the sert. I did that with this one thinking ,it worked a couple times... Why not again? Now my leather guy is mad that i kept him waiting for the roll bar...he even came out to look and scratched his head. I guess that i will just have to cut it off and start over??? I just hope that i don't end up with part of a nut-sert and bolt ratteling around in my frame forever.
Thank-you guys for all the ideas... I used several of them to get this far.

 

Use a bolt that is long enough to accept a matching nut, plus the
next larger size nut and a washer and still thread all the way into the
Nutsert.

Assemble in the order described above. You work the wrenches on the
bolt head and matching nut. Have an assistant hold a wrench on the
oversized nut so it does not turn under load from your nut. The thinking
here is that the larger nut provides a fixed load-bearing point on the
Nutsert and thus eliminates the tendency of the Nutsert to turn in
unison with the driving nut.

Comprende?

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So the large nut becomes the bar only it concentrates more force(actually all) on the sert collar... I think i got it.
Well back to the garage i go.

 

Think it through, look things over and decide if this will work for your
situation before beginning.

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Here is an animation by Textron showing how their version of these
fasteners are installed in a production setting.

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When you pull up the nut sert make sure you use anti-seize on the threads of the bolt and only use a grade 8 bolt to pull it up. I have an old tool for 10-32 that stripped out, I made anew shaft out of drill rod but it only pulls up 1 or 2 times before it strips. I need to have 1 hardened, but work bought a new tool.

 

Todd, man you need a life. Hows the Vette coming. Got my engine back!!!(Not installed yet)

 

Todd I ran into the same thing when I installed my cross frame brace last summer. I had help from Slalom-4Me via pm's. I ended up making
studs in a couple of the nutserts that became real stubborn and wouldn't take a seat. It worked out well for me. Driveing the car now with the Targa off is a pleasure now. Good Luck
Jimmy