Spinning RivNuts

[qayqayt]

I had to remove the corner clearance lamps on our PD-4108 (long story..).  On two of the assemblies I found that the bolt head was cut off and the rusted threads were still in the rivnut.  I can turn the whole thing by hand.  Obviously when trying to remove the bolt, someone used too much torque and broke off the inside of the rivnut.  I've had two suggestions for removal:

•   If I can get the remainder of the bolt out, I can drill out the rivnut.
•   Or I can drill a small hole through the flange of the rivnut and the roof and insert a pin to stop it from spinning.

The problem with the first solution is removing the rusty bolt without damaging the rivnut.  I was thinking of trying one of one of those spray type products like PB Blaster but even if the stuff works, I'll need to apply torque to remove it.  I can't do that if the rivnut is spinning. The problem with the second solution is that I'm not excited about trying to carefully drill such a small hole through that rivnut flange while balancing on a stepladder.

Any ideas?

Bryan
Vancouver BC

[Chaz]

Sorry to hear of your dilemma. I too had this problem with my 4108.
I was fortunate that I drilled mine out, completely, and a buddy had some larger riv-nuts that I put in. That is the only solution I could come up with.
  Good luck,
   Chaz

[bevans6]

I drill them out and replace them.  Sometimes you have to resort to damage, unfortunately.  They can be a royal PITA.

Brian

[fe2_o3]

  Grind off the collar, punch it through, install new...Cable

[luvrbus]

I put a small metal screw on the lip 


good luck

[Don4107]

A little super glue works to hold rivets while drilling them out.  You need the thin stuff that will suck into the joint by capillary action.

Good luck
Don 4107

[gus]

I've done reasonably well by jamming a thin screwdriver underneath the rivnut collar.

[pabusnut]

I just dealt with this last week.   Save yourself some time and headache and grind off the flange on the outside.  I used a very thin cutting wheel on my 4" angle grinder and slowed ground it away until I could punch it through the other side. 

Mine was the right turn signal that didn't work (long story involving some idiot drilling a screw through the wire!).  I also sanded and painted the chrome housing with a chrome color prior to re-installing it.

The galvanic action causes the steel bolt in the aluminum rivnut to oxidize both faster than separately.  I have started to replace these steel philips head bolts with stainless steel cap screws.  I think they have slightly less galvanic action than straight steel.  I also coat them with a slight bit of never seize, especially on ones like these that you need to remove to change the bulb.

Steve Toomey