I need a couple of blind holes in the unibody of the van to bolt the fuel pump and filter brackets. I figure I'll need the tool later down the road anyway so I'll just pick one up for future use. There are quite a few choices and a varying price range, so help me sort through them with personal experience etc. I don't have an air source and would like an affordable option(read cheap as possible).
The air ones are awesome.
As cheap as possible? A nut and a bolt. Spin the nut all the way on to the bolt, then insert the bolt into the nutsert. Start turning the nut, which will pull on the nutsert and crimp it into place. Remove bolt. As an added bonus, this setup will fit in spots that a normal tool won't.
The HF one I have at home seems to work okay.
The ones that look like a manual rivet gun work ok. I would just use the nut and bolt method myself.
Keith Tanner wrote: The air ones are awesome. As cheap as possible? A nut and a bolt. Spin the nut all the way on to the bolt, then insert the bolt into the nutsert. Start turning the nut, which will pull on the nutsert and crimp it into place. Remove bolt. As an added bonus, this setup will fit in spots that a normal tool won't. The HF one I have at home seems to work okay.
Looks like this!
I have two Marson riv-nut tools.
The smaller one is the 39301:
The larger is the 325-RN:
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The one I got came setup with the 1/4-20 mandrel and nose piece.
Later I got the UN inch size mandrel & nose piece kit. That included 10-24, 10-32, 1/4-20, 5/16-18 and 3/8-16 pieces.
I've been happy with both tools. There are a couple times where the 39301 won't fit in an area. Then I read about these in Rod & Custom:
I haven't gotten one yet, but it's on the list.
There is a difference between Nutserts and Rivnuts. After installation Nutserts have very little metal that protrudes above the surface. Nutserts are dependent on having a percise hole size so when pulled the serations around the top of Nutsert presses into the sides of the hole. Rivnuts have a head that when pulled protrudes above the surface of the surrounding metal. They have a version with thin heads and also with thicker heads.
If you can live with whatever is being screwed/bolted down being slightly above the surrounding metal (reating on the head) rivnuts are easy and pretty cheap to install. Most Rivnuts are aluminum but steel is also availible. Normally the cheaper tools will only pull aluminum and the tools that will pull steel are expensive. I also have a Marston Rivnut tool that is pretty good quality that costs around $75.00 plus depending where you buy it.
If what you are bolting down needs to fit flat to the surrounding surface Nutserts are the way to go. Many Nutserts are steel but the insertion tools tend to be expensive. Aircraft Spruce does make an expendible tool for sizes up to 3/8". I have used these tools to pull approximatley 50 each 10-24 Nutserts after that it was pretty much used up. Here is a link to the expendeble tools:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/topages/nutserttools2.php?clickkey=43933
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