Rivnuts and Wings

[stephen grant]

 

I lost a rear wing over the weekend, and the rivnuts got pulled out of the body from the impact. I've read back through the archives, and i'm obviously not the first to suffer this. The problem is, I don't have the special tool to put new rivnuts back into the bodywork, and I suspect that the holes may have been enlarged anyway as the rivnuts exited the bodywork. The wing is currently held on by a combination of nylon nuts and bolts at the back and a cable tie through the bodywork at the front, along with strips of gaffer tape in the middle section, which I can't get to for the interior trim. This obviously isn't the optimal solution.

 

What's the easiest option for putting a new wing back on, given that I have no rivnuts in situ, apart from removing the interior trim and putting nuts between the trim and the body?

 

I did hope that the person called Kay Tee who is sometimes on here, would have a solution, but I've had no response to my e-mail to him.

 

Thanks for any help and apologies if this has been done before and I missed it in the archives

 

stephen

 

 

 

[cr]

So long as your ali is not too badly deformed, you might be able to knock it back and refit new rivnuts. I'll be borrowing a rivnut tool this week to fix the aftermath of a racing "nudge". Hope I'm not speaking out of turn, but the guy I'm borrowing it from lives in Weybridge, so not a million miles from you...

 

If that fails, I've also got a couple of KayTee's rubber rivnuts if you want to check and see if they work.

 

Drop me a blatmail if you want to come over and try a few things out.

 

Chris

[F355GTS]

stephen

 

Kaytee's system would work for you or you'll need the tool and some rivnuts, these can be fitted in a different place so existing holes are not a problem

 

If you want an excuse for a drive you are welcome to come over, I have the tools here

 

Mark

[Shaun_E]

I bought one of Karstens kit's a couple of weeks ago so he is still doing them. It took a couple of days for him to get back to me so if you're not in a major hurry hang on in there.

As above, the alternative is to use new rivnuts in different positions

 

Yellow SL #32

[I.Mupferit]

You will find that the Rivnuts used by Caterham are quite a small outside diameter and can be replaced with those of an alternative manufacturer which use a bigger o/d but still employ an M5 internal thread.

 

Thus you can flatten the aluminium as best you can then drill out the holes to suit the alternative rivnuts. RS components for example have M5 rivnuts (AVK inserts) which require a 7.6mm hole.

 

You can then use M5 nylon screws to prevent a recurrence of the problem.

 

I used a similar method on my old car after a couple of the screws became seized in the rivnuts and twisted them out of the sideskin.

 

Brent

 

2.3 DURATEC SV. In the final weeks of gestation. SVA booked/postponed/booked/postponed/booked.

[stephen grant]

Thanks all. Ok, I made contact with Karsten today, so I'll give his kit a try. To be honest, this has obviously happened several times before to the car, and, as a result, there are at least 3 sets of holes already in the body, so I'm keen to avoid drilling any more. If I need to go the rivnut route, I'll drop Mark or Chris an e-mail (thank you both for the kind offers), but I'm hoping that the kit does the job.

 

Thanks again,

 

stephen

 

 

Edited by - stephen grant on 13 Apr 2005 10:54:55