Hey Everyone, On my new F430 I’m noticing a few my rivet nuts (“rivnuts”) are loose. Specifically, a few that hold the under tray on and engine bay panels. I believe it’s due to past owners/shops using power tools on them. Most (it’s only been ~5) are an easy fix but one was so bad it pulled through the thin metal. Amazon has good enough rivet and rivet nut kits to repair. Generally, I don’t use power tools on reassembly. This rivet nut / power tool thing is just a thought I wanted to share with the community because I know how annoying/time consuming some of these little hardware can be with the under tray, diffuser, engine bay panel, etc. Be careful. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here’s how I fixed one rivnut. Couple nuts on a bolt. Two wrenches to tighten it and re-clamp the rivnut. It worked. I didn’t watch this but seems to explain what I did: Image Unavailable, Please Login
Certainly agree I don't use power tools for anything on this car except screwing and unscrewing wheel bolts which I finish with a torque wrench Maybe putting the undertray on, but again, just to get them seated, finish with a torque wrench It's just not worth it
It's a real head scratcher how some folks can be so abusive when working on such expensive cars. Time is money. I get that, but c'mon. We never use any power tools in my shop for assembly or disassembly. Only the ocassional air impact for steel wheels-- and I even hate to hear that sound in my shop.
Small Dewalt adjustable impacts work just fine. The little ones similar to a small electric hand drill. The lowest setting will not strip a bolt or screw if you are careful with it but if it does, rivnuts are very easy to install. Just because an impact is capable ot tearing things up, it does not have to. If necessary, go one size larger and use a larger screw or bolt. Rivnuts will sometimes spin no matter what you do. If you are clumsy gorilla strong, do not use power tools. Gorilla mechanics will screw stuff up easily by hand. I cannot imagine working with only hand tools.
I don't know, I've never had more trouble with machined screws going back into their holes than on this car. And this is with me using my hand to gently start them in. Pretty much every time I remove a screw, I wonder if its going ro make it back in. I remove my engine panels quite a bit. Only a matter of time till they won't screw back in It's like they're designed only for initial install
"It's like they're designed only for initial install". I agree with that and I have had to replace riv nuts many times. It is just the way it is.
I know, and don't get me wrong, I consider it an annoyance, but in no way affects my impression of this magnificent beast. I can live with these minor idiosynchrosies All great ones have their faults
Crazy that when we speak of "power tools", it always goes straight to impacts. I often use an electric ratchet or a drill with a 3/8" socket adapter when working on cars.
I'm with you Mitchell, if it weren't for power everything I wouldn't be able to do my job day-to-day. I feel like impacts have a bad reputation due to people misusing them all the time. Don't get me wrong, using impacts can absolutely cross thread in a heartbeat or break something. But as others have mentioned, machined screws can cross thread just as easily using just a ratchet too. - Shane
I break everything loose with a ratchet or breaker bar. Then zip off with power tools. Too scared of breaking or rounding with an impact. With the hand tools I can feel how much force is being applied.
I use 1/4 for as much as I possibly can unless it flat out requires 3/8 or 1/2 Drive. losening fasteners i tend to try to break them free first by hand and then use a small electric drill to remove them overall (save your hands a bit). For installation, i always put bolts in by hand. Zipping anything in without putting some feel on it is a no no in my book personally. Stripped or messed up threads can easily be avoided or found and chased with a tap to clean up before being re-installed. Anyway just my two cents on the subject.
I got titanium hardware set for the engine bay panels. Looks much nicer and they seemed to thread much easier.
Bad work will be performed by incompetent people no matter the type of tool. Lets not blame inanimate objects for the failings of humans. And before blaming every rivnut failure on a prior mechanic take into consideration the huge number of them I used to fix on brand new cars. Ferrari and their QA is far from faultless in all this. Cars are assembled by nothing but power tools and if you think mechanics paid by the hour are under pressure. It is nothing like the pressure in Maranello to get units out the door.
Obviously the user of the power tools is to blame when damaging hardware, and not the tool itself. One can damage parts with both hand and power tools. It’s just that one is more likely to over-stress hardware than the other, when an inexperienced and/or uncaring mechanic is using them. Don’t get me started on torque specs and using clean hardware… You’re absolutely right regarding people paid to work on cars vs hobbyists enjoying spending extra time to make sure things are done correctly. I can’t imagine having customers complain about the time it takes, then also complain about the quality. Ugh… For the average hobbyist, using the average accessible shop tools, I do think it’s a note worthy discussion to be careful when using power tools, on small hardware especially.
DO NOT EVER PUT WORDS IN MY MOUTH. I said nothing of the kind. I consider hobbyists the worst offenders.
lol, to clarify, I meant you’re absolutely right on the challenges of paid workers being time efficient and held accountable to be timely by customers vs hobbyists not having those challenges. I wasnt meaning to imply hobbyists aren’t offenders of damaging what they work on.
I’ll disagree with the worst offenders statement though. I’ve seen an incredible trend of shops damaging cars and doing terrible work. Maybe it’s a Midwest thing. It’s been a problem across my whole friend group of varying makes/models. However, I’m not exposed to a hobbyist group of morons, which I’m sure exist too. I tend to see cars maintained by their owner’s tend to be better. I know you own a shop, and arguably one of the most experienced/knowledgeable people out there on these cars, but that’s just my (wide range) observation locally. If there was a shop I trusted, I’d hire them to work on my car opposed to how much time I spend doing it myself, so I see the value of hiring out instead of DIY.
