The (almost) last installment from Steve Valentine - probably one of the best of the series.......
TOOL TIME
Regular ‘Toolies’ will have already plundered the kids ‘Uni’ fund, or the housekeeping, to purchase the tools listed below. Hopefully the bruises from the skilfully wielded rolling pin have subsided and that the subsequent household peace talks helped to avoid an International incident!!
Those of you still happily married should already have the following…
1. A Large Hammer
2. An Angle Grinder
3. A Very Good Set of Drill Bits.
4. A Pair of Engineers Dividers.
5. Propane Gas Heater.
6. Deburring Tool.
7. An Air Compressor & Air Tools
8. A Flexi Drill Sanding Drum.
9. Multi-connector kit.
10. Masking Tape
11. Cleko Set.
Which leads me on to…..?
Tiger Tool No. 12 – A Rivnut Tool + RivnutsA Rivnut is a nut, or threaded insert, that can be riveted into GRP, or steel & aluminium tube or sheet. This will provide a far more secure fixing than self tappers, or drilling and tapping into something like a chassis rail, or body panel, which is only 1-1.5mm thick. By using a Rivnut the thread is up to 5mm deep depending on the size of Rivnut used.
To fit one of these beasties you first drill a hole in the position required. The drill size would depend on the size of Rivnut but I found that the most commonly used sized Rivnut was M6 which required a 9mm drill (TT3). Once the hole has been drilled and deburred (TT6) you are ready to insert the Rivnut. Install the correct mandrel into your Rivnut application tool, thread the Rivnut onto the mandrel, place into the predrilled hole and squeeze the application tool until you feel the Rivnut compress and grip the panel or tube. Don’t be too ‘gorilla like’ with your squeezing (It’s not the wife, you know!!) as too much pressure allows the steel mandrel to strip your nice new thread, especially when using aluminium Rivnuts. Once the Rivnut has been inserted, unscrew the mandrel which will leave a nice & neat threaded insert behind.
I used quite a lot of these during the build as a neat way to fit removable items, or items and panels that I thought that I may have to remove later.
I bought the Budget Rivnut kit from Car Builder Solutions (
www.nfauto.co.uk) for £22.50 which comes with 40 aluminium rivnuts in sizes M3, M4, M5 & M6. Extra Rivnuts can be sourced from the same place or ‘Tifosi’ (
www.tifosi.homecall.co.uk).
Whilst I found that the above kit was incredibly useful, there were times when I regretted my thrift. The more expensive kit, at £62, would have allowed me to fit M8 rivnuts and is also capable of fitting steel & stainless steel inserts which would have proved very useful at times.
Tiger Tool No.13 – A SWMBO**This highly complicated device was used extensively during my Cat build proving its worth time and time again. The tasks that can be performed by this clever device never cease to amaze. If there is one item that I could not do without it is my SWMBO.
When selecting your SWMBO great care must be taken to select the right model for the job. Just like selecting a donor for your kit build, age and condition are very important, but remember newer is not always better. Some of the newer models can be temperamental and are relatively untested technology that can be prone to development problems at surprisingly low mileages. Whereas an earlier model is more likely to have had all of its teething troubles (assuming that it still has teeth!) ironed out by now and can prove to be much more reliable in the long run, if suitably maintained.
When choosing, make sure that you get all of the attachments as some of the most vital ones are easily mislaid.
Do not under estimate its usefulness as, chosen carefully and maintained sympathetically, certain models will provide years of sterling service and can be surprisingly versatile. But, be warned, depreciation hits hard and resale value can be low.
My own version I found unloved in a barn in Kent and was obtained for a reasonable sum, probably due to the high mileage and short warrantee. It has, however, proved to be extremely reliable in daily use, often exceeding expectations in many circumstances. There is always a down side of course, which in my own case is the incredibly high cost of maintenance and a couple of broken attachments.
The only places that appear to satisfy its maintenance requirements are ‘Bluewater’ in Kent & the hell on Earth known as ‘Lakeside’, both of which are the devils work and should be avoided by all sane men, and kit builders, at all costs.
**SWMBO =She Who Must Be Obeyed
I’m sure that it is obvious from the above that I have now come to the end of my list of special tools for Tiger building. There must be many more that others have used that the rest of us have yet to discover. If you have unearthed a clever ‘Mandragular Valve Insertion Tool’ or a labour saving device for removing small boys from horses hooves, why not add it to my list.
Steve
