I'm in need of a rivnut tool.

What a brilliant idea. The rivet nuts holding the light cluster lenses on the back of the Laika started turning when I needed to change a bulb. What a job getting to the back to hold it while I undid the screw in the lens. Some idiot in a factory decided that steel ones were good. Trouble is they can get wet and damp and of course steel rusts and bingo seized solid.
 
nice one Colin ,only thing i'd add ,is to cut a small notch or two in the edge of the hole after drilling , with a jigsaw or file . the rivnut will squeeze into these and prevent rotation , and make setting ,and future removal a bit easier . my daughter's ambulance had hundreds of rivnuts , none of them were notched ,and about 50% of them spun when i tried to undo them .

Notching the hole is a good idea should you ever want to remove the rivnut and/or bolt. I'll remember that one, Nigel.
Thanks for the tip.

Colin 🙂🙂🙂
 
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Fact is any one building vans kit cars motorcycles require about 3 grands worth of tools and a shed with lots of space,never mind skill required to do the job,like plumbing spraying spark woodwork steel and welding and least but not all a good mech know how,other wise best to just go out and buy of the shelf. :unsure:
 
Fact is any one building vans kit cars motorcycles require about 3 grands worth of tools and a shed with lots of space,never mind skill required to do the job,like plumbing spraying spark woodwork steel and welding and least but not all a good mech know how,other wise best to just go out and buy of the shelf. :unsure:
You've got to start somewhere though, the best way I learn is to watch a load of youtube vids and then have a go. I guess knowing when to have a go yourself and when to use a professional is probably the best tool to have in the tool box, good example being that we are probably going to get a pro to spray our cab but are going to take on the simpler habitation body ourselves. I hesitated for a while the other week over whether to have a go myself at replacing a clutch slave cylinder, I chose the garage.
 
I have a rivnut tool that you could use Jeff, but it’s getting it to you from Norfolk.
We are going to New Forest, Hollingworth and Stratford, any good?
 
Fact is any one building vans kit cars motorcycles require about 3 grands worth of tools and a shed with lots of space,never mind skill required to do the job,like plumbing spraying spark woodwork steel and welding and least but not all a good mech know how,other wise best to just go out and buy of the shelf. :unsure:
sometimes i do a day and think of how many tools were involved. so many more than you'd imagine,and of course the many skills and techniques involved- honestly ,self building is such a lark ! cutting out windows,doing 12 and 240v wiring, sorting out the plumbing , before you fit the cabinets then a bit of gasfitting before welding up a frame for a tank. takes a lot of knowledge, a lot of tools ,and a fair amount of chutzpah !
for any of you that ever made your own towbar for a motor ,then built a trailer to pull - can you remember driving down the road with it and going over the whole process in your head wondering if you covered everything ?
 
You've got to start somewhere though, the best way I learn is to watch a load of youtube vids and then have a go. I guess knowing when to have a go yourself and when to use a professional is probably the best tool to have in the tool box, good example being that we are probably going to get a pro to spray our cab but are going to take on the simpler habitation body ourselves. I hesitated for a while the other week over whether to have a go myself at replacing a clutch slave cylinder, I chose the garage.
As I said if no tools and the know how then leave it to others. (y)
 
sometimes i do a day and think of how many tools were involved. so many more than you'd imagine,and of course the many skills and techniques involved- honestly ,self building is such a lark ! cutting out windows,doing 12 and 240v wiring, sorting out the plumbing , before you fit the cabinets then a bit of gasfitting before welding up a frame for a tank. takes a lot of knowledge, a lot of tools ,and a fair amount of chutzpah !
for any of you that ever made your own towbar for a motor ,then built a trailer to pull - can you remember driving down the road with it and going over the whole process in your head wondering if you covered everything ?
Some times i wake at night with things in my head or a problem solved and scribble it down on paper much to my wifes annoyence.
 
I fitted rivnuts to my solar panel when installing it on the Moho.
I only had 10 rivnuts to set so decided I'd use a bolt and nut as suggested by QFour. It didn't work well for me because the nut, when driven against the head of the rivnut, caused the rivnut to rotate despite the fact that the rivnut is longitudinally corrugated and a tight fit in the holes I drilled. I tried a couple of greased washers between the nut and rivnut but still had a problem.
I gave up and made a simple tool from a piece of bent scrap stainless steel strip, a bolt and some washers:

View attachment 83914

The bolt head (top of the image) has a couple of star washers either side of the strip and is prevented from turning relative to the strip by tightening the upper nut.
The bolt passes through an elongated clearance hole just below the driving nut (it needs to be elongated to allow the strip to flex as the driving nut is tightened).
The driving nut (bottom of the image) has a couple of greased washers under it and it rotates against the strip, not the rivnut.
In use the bent strip can be held in one hand and the driving nut turned with a spanner.
It works really well:

View attachment 83915

.......... but if I had more than 50 rivnuts to set I'd buy a purpose-made tool!

I hope this helps.

Colin 🙂🙂🙂

Just looking at this again as I got the gun with long handles back then. but its no good for under the bonnet this looks good for tight spaces.
 
I’d gladly lend you mine, but by the time you’ve got it from Northamptonshire and back it would be better to buy one on Amazon.
 
So what am I doing wrong here as rivnuts not bitting?
20231007_171847.jpg
 
Fact is any one building vans kit cars motorcycles require about 3 grands worth of tools and a shed with lots of space,never mind skill required to do the job,like plumbing spraying spark woodwork steel and welding and least but not all a good mech know how,other wise best to just go out and buy of the shelf. :unsure:
I had just basic tools when I started my build, I searched on Ebay for stuff and dropped lucky someone was selling a table saw, mitre saw, two routers, all sorts of chisels clamps even a pillar drill and morticer, I sniped it at £300 quid and got them for £280, and he was nice enough to deliver them for the fuel, I just needed a plunge/track saw and battery drill drivers, which Lidl provided, I still have the drivers and they still work fine 12 years later, I must put the track saw on ebay though, I'll never use it again.
 
Some times i wake at night with things in my head or a problem solved and scribble it down on paper much to my wifes annoyence.
Oh heck yes, it drove me mad, you'd need to do a job, no idea how but overnight the cerebellum would work it out.
 

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