How to: Install nutserts, aka rivnuts, by way of a rear ITR trunk stiffener brace!
09-22-2012, 08:38 PM
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How to: Install nutserts, aka rivnuts, by way of a rear ITR trunk stiffener brace!
Hi everyone,
I'm in the final stretch of my 95 GSR rebuild, which I hope to post a thread for at some point. But today I installed some nutserts, also called rivnuts and thought I'd share the process with you. I stumbled across nutserts when I was trying to find a more elegant way to install the rear trunk stiffener brace form an ITR. The common process requires drilling completely through the rear trunk bulkhead and using a long bolt and a nut. I did not like that idea, so I found nutserts. These are handy to replace any welded nuts that may have been broken off due to over zealous impact gunning, especially if they're in a place where it's impossible to weld.
There are a couple of commercially available nutsert install tools, which basically are like rivet install tools. The smaller one, which I was told is only good up to 1/4", or 6 mm, is about $50. The larger one which looks like a set of bolt cutters is about $250+. Naturally, this is the one I needed, but I only needed to install 2 nutserts so I was trying to do this on the cheep. A little google-ing landed me on a youtube video that showed a tool like this, which I had made up:
Also shown in the above photo is a stud that is the same size as your nutsert and matching hex nut. The washers were originally to be used if you are installing a nutsert that is smaller than the hole you drilled in your tool, but since I had the hole drilled to size, I just used the washer to help displace the force of the nut. You'll see that illustrated later.
Find the right sized nutsert for your application. In this case, it's an 8mm x 1.25.
Next, drill a hole the size of the outside diameter (OD) of the nutsert. This one required about a 1/2" hole. It doesn't need to be a press or interference fit, but don't make it to big either. You should be able to get the nutsert in the hole with some light mallet taps. Needless to say, I looked at an ITR to see where the bar mounted up and measured up the holes for the bar.
The 1/2" holes in question are the center holes in the gussets shown below:
Next, insert the nutsert into the hole.
Next, apply a couple drops of air tool oil or the like and thread the stud into the nutsert so that all the threads of the nutsert are coupled.
Next, install the tool, 2 washers and nut as shown.
The above pic shows a washer in between the tool and the nutsert. This is not correct, leave that washer out! This washer caused the nutsert to turn as the hex nut was turned which is not what you want. If you see that the nutsert is turning, you may want to add a star washer between the nutsert and the tool. In my case, the paint on the tool gripped the nutsert enough to keep it from turning. Lucky me.
Next, tighten the hex nut with your ratchet or wrench. I found that once the nutsert finishes mushrooming out, the turning stops, but the youtube video above recommended practicing on a piece of material of similar thickness so you know how many turns it took. I did this and found it helpful with the installation.
Once the nutsert has completely mushroomed, the finished product looks like this.
A little touch up paint and it's all pretty.
I didn't have the right length bolts so I used these just to mock up the bar. You get the idea.
And you have no holes coming out the rear bulkhead... at least no new holes.
The practice nutserts I installed on my piece of scrap metal easily took about 50+ ft/lbs on an installed bolt and didn't budge. I don't know how it would hold up to impacting so proceed with caution.
Hope you find this information useful.
I'm in the final stretch of my 95 GSR rebuild, which I hope to post a thread for at some point. But today I installed some nutserts, also called rivnuts and thought I'd share the process with you. I stumbled across nutserts when I was trying to find a more elegant way to install the rear trunk stiffener brace form an ITR. The common process requires drilling completely through the rear trunk bulkhead and using a long bolt and a nut. I did not like that idea, so I found nutserts. These are handy to replace any welded nuts that may have been broken off due to over zealous impact gunning, especially if they're in a place where it's impossible to weld.
There are a couple of commercially available nutsert install tools, which basically are like rivet install tools. The smaller one, which I was told is only good up to 1/4", or 6 mm, is about $50. The larger one which looks like a set of bolt cutters is about $250+. Naturally, this is the one I needed, but I only needed to install 2 nutserts so I was trying to do this on the cheep. A little google-ing landed me on a youtube video that showed a tool like this, which I had made up:
Also shown in the above photo is a stud that is the same size as your nutsert and matching hex nut. The washers were originally to be used if you are installing a nutsert that is smaller than the hole you drilled in your tool, but since I had the hole drilled to size, I just used the washer to help displace the force of the nut. You'll see that illustrated later.
Find the right sized nutsert for your application. In this case, it's an 8mm x 1.25.
Next, drill a hole the size of the outside diameter (OD) of the nutsert. This one required about a 1/2" hole. It doesn't need to be a press or interference fit, but don't make it to big either. You should be able to get the nutsert in the hole with some light mallet taps. Needless to say, I looked at an ITR to see where the bar mounted up and measured up the holes for the bar.
The 1/2" holes in question are the center holes in the gussets shown below:
Next, insert the nutsert into the hole.
Next, apply a couple drops of air tool oil or the like and thread the stud into the nutsert so that all the threads of the nutsert are coupled.
Next, install the tool, 2 washers and nut as shown.
The above pic shows a washer in between the tool and the nutsert. This is not correct, leave that washer out! This washer caused the nutsert to turn as the hex nut was turned which is not what you want. If you see that the nutsert is turning, you may want to add a star washer between the nutsert and the tool. In my case, the paint on the tool gripped the nutsert enough to keep it from turning. Lucky me.
Next, tighten the hex nut with your ratchet or wrench. I found that once the nutsert finishes mushrooming out, the turning stops, but the youtube video above recommended practicing on a piece of material of similar thickness so you know how many turns it took. I did this and found it helpful with the installation.
Once the nutsert has completely mushroomed, the finished product looks like this.
A little touch up paint and it's all pretty.
I didn't have the right length bolts so I used these just to mock up the bar. You get the idea.
And you have no holes coming out the rear bulkhead... at least no new holes.
The practice nutserts I installed on my piece of scrap metal easily took about 50+ ft/lbs on an installed bolt and didn't budge. I don't know how it would hold up to impacting so proceed with caution.
Hope you find this information useful.
Last edited by kchungb17a; 09-22-2012 at 10:11 PM.
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