[arniland]

In one of my previous lifetimes I was involved in preparing cars for sports car racing and then with homebuilt aircraft. In these I became familiar with what I always referred to as "blind fasteners". I seem to remember that the folks who made pop rivets had an inexpensive consumer line of these products. You installed them with a standard pop-rivet tool. The inserts, however, have machine threads in the center.

As the TM is constructed with aluminum skins, these would leave threads which should be stronger that the sheet metal screws originally used.

I have a full kit which I bought at an estate sale (a retired aircraft mechanic) which has the tool and inserts for the sizes; 6-32, 8-32, 10-32, 1/4-20 and 5/16-18. My frustration is that I have not yet found a source for replacement inserts. The brand I have is Tric-Nut from a firm named Aviband in Burbank, CA. I have no idea of how old it is or if the company is still in existence. However, someone must be still manufacturing blind fasteners. I also have a tool and a few fasteners which were made by BF Goodrich called Rivnuts, but I do not believe that they are still in production.

Like Phil, I have anticipated that eventually I would experience failures with sheet metal screws and this is how I intend to repair them. I have successfully used these on a friend's Hi-Lo.

Has anyone else tried this approach? I believe that these are a good, well engineered solution which should outlast the TM if properly installed.

Arn