I own a '58 Cab and an '61 Roadster, both have their complement of Tenax fastners for affixing the top boots plus my Roadster sports a full tonneau cover with even more fastners to fret over. I am definitely no stranger to the loose Tenax syndrome!
Several years ago I received a suggestion on this very subject from fellow Registry member, Tim Bertanelli, and I'd like to pass along what I consider the best fix for this dilemma, which all open car owners have had to contend with: "how the hell do you sure-up a loose Tenax fastner?"
There is on the market an item known as a pop blind rivet nut. Black & Decker had them, and still may. And you can check www.emhart.com/products/pop/popnut.htm for them also. You want to get the 1/2" long variety in aluminum. This rivet is threaded (8/32" i.d.) and comes with a mandrel....a 1 3/4" rod or stem, if you will, that's threaded at one end and screws into the rivet. Then you need to drill out the old Tenax hole to a 1/4". Note: I have found that a 10/24" bit does the job albeit it the hole's a tad tight for the fastner, but you can work it into the hole with the stem screwed into the rivet for leverage. Then insert the other end of the stem into your rivet gun and slowly squeeze until you feel resistance....you'll know because you can't squeeze the gun's handle anymore. It all works just like a conventional rivet job, but the stem doesn't get snapped off. The revit's set, and you can now unscrew the stem from it. The last step is to slowly screw the Tenax fastner into the rivet making sure you're going in straight. The fastner will rethread the rivet, and I've used either a nut drive or socket to do this. Remember to put your plastic washer on the Tenax. The rise of the rivet's head on the body's surface is minimal and the washer bascially obscures it.
I've included a couple of pics: one from the back of the Black & Decker package that the rivets came in, and the other is a rundown from the Emhart Company. I trust these will help clarify what I tried to explain in the aforementioned paragraphs.
I've done six or seven loose Tenax fastners using this method and have had 100% positive results. Hope you'll consider this approach especially when confronted with the fastners behind the cockpit's rear bulkhead.
Regards,
Frank Earle
Reg #927
