SPF MKII battery box cover vs screw vs screw fitting

[Don]

Adding battery tender quick connect, everything was going fine until last battery box screw reinstall. Looks / feels cross-threaded, spins all day but neither inserts or removes, so I’m guessing the screw nut fitting below is now loose or something. Of course, there’s no clean way to swing the battery cover away to look-see even with the other screws removed—tried that.

I suppose the good news is that the tender pigtail and eyelets are on, good to go, so we won’t need direct battery access near term. Open to suggestions for what to try or cut next. Figure it makes most sense to sacrifice the screw head … Not a lot of room to operate a dremel or saw though.

Thoughts?

Day 6 of ownership has been awesome, haha.

 

[Ian Anderson]

Small prybar type tool ( possibly a small garden weed puller) to put some outward pressure under the washer, ,thus causing the retained nut /rivunt /whatever to have some turning resistance and back the bolt out out gently.

 

[Lee Patterson]

I took a cutting wheel to my bat cover to allow access. If I remember correctly, the nuts are a nutcert into the tub below the actual battery box. One must have broken loose. You would have to remove the battery and battery box to see what is broken loose. My BatteryTender wires run to the back and hang along the tub.

 

[Neil]

I took a cutting wheel to my bat cover to allow access. If I remember correctly, the nuts are a nutcert into the tub below the actual battery box. One must have broken loose. You would have to remove the battery and battery box to see what is broken loose. My BatteryTender wires run to the back and hang along the tub.

View attachment 153950

Riv-nuts work well in thin sheet metal due to their bulbed expansion behind the drilled hole. Nutserts, on the other hand, exhibit poor retention in sheet metal, but are fine for thick material or blind holes. Are your threaded fasteners really Riv-nuts?

 

[Lee Patterson]

I don't know what SPF uses. Could be Riv-nuts. This is a typical one.

 

[Don]

OH, so that's what's spinning below. Well, tried the pry up and back out approach, nogo. Wonder if I can drill the button head to fall off then just use & cap the exposed bolt threads as a stud for now, taking on / off the battery cover as needed going forward.

 

[Mark H.]

Pull up on the threads with small claw hammer, cats paw or better a needle nose vice grip, drill off the top of the bolt.

 

[Lee Patterson]

I would not drill anything out. Just stick the socket head bolt in the hole and let it sit there loose. When you get time, remove it all and see what happened. The battery box and battery are not going anywhere.

 

[Neil]

I don't know what SPF uses. Could be Riv-nuts. This is a typical one. View attachment 153951

That is a type of Nutsert but either the sheet metal is too thin or the hole was drilled a bit oversize...or both.

 

[Mark H.]

This might help.

 

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

Slide a putty knife under the lip of the cover and push hard against the body of the insert while turning the screw. Ask me how I know.......