Kent :
I've used something very similar, except it was just a kit of mandrels and
'Rivet Nuts' to use with an ordinary 'Pop Rivet' tool. Unfortunately (for
you) I've never had the problem you describe. It does take a good deal more
force to set the threaded inserts, and the shank of the mandrel where the
rivet tool grabs it eventually gets chewed up beyond use, but I've never
stripped an insert. Is there any chance you're using an 8-32 rivet, with a
6-32 mandrel ?
I've seen something similar in steel, but using a bolt to swage it into
place. Check out
http://www.mcmaster.com/
and click on 'Rivet studs and nuts' under 'Fastening and Sealing'. MMC
isn't the cheapest around, but they do have the stuff, and there's no
minimum order.
BTW the aluminum has survived for many years of holding the grille of my
TR3A in place. It even survived some a**hole backing into the car in a
parking lot, although the grille was a loss.
Randall
> The tool is basically a pop rivet gun but is used to install "nut
> plates". The box it came in is marked "Revere". The nut plates are
> threaded aluminum cylinders with a shoulder/collar at one end, much like
> a pop rivet. The gun has a selection of "mandrels" that thread into the
> appropriately-sized nut plate.
>
> I want to install these plates in some holes in the body of my '66
> Corvair, specifically at the rear of the car where the engine air
> exhaust grille attaches. This grille is held in with sheet metal screws
> from the factory and, of course, the holes enlarge over time.
>
> So, I chose a nut plate size that was fairly snug in the hole (not sure
> what the O.D. is but the screw one uses after installation is 6/32") and
> loaded the appropriate mandrel into the gun. I screwed a nut plate onto
> the mandrel, shoulder side up/out, inserted the contraption into a hole
> in the car's sheet metal, pulled the trigger, and (drum roll...) the
> mandrel pulled out of the nut plate without scrunching the plate. The
> mandrel basically stripped the soft aluminum threads. I tried again with
> a couple more nut plates and used varying amounts of pressure with the
> gun but no dice. I couldn't get the plate to "fatten" in the hole.
>
> If any of you have used something like this before, I'd appreciate some
> advice.
>
> Related question: Do nut plates come in mild steel? I'd prefer to use
> that material for longevity (of the threads mainly).
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