Exe Crew DECA Day - 24/03/2012

Last week, Exe Crew hosted its first DECA day for 2012. For those that don't know, DECA is the Driver Education Centre of Australia and they have a facility in Shepparton, Victoria. This facility consists of a large concrete skid pan as well as some hill climb style tracks. The day was comprised of a series of courses on the skid pan and two different runs on the track. I was there to assist only and it gave me the opportunity to take some photos. Here are some photos and the full album can be viewed here - DECA 2012-03-24.

The cost of one extra turn of the ratchet

Years ago when I didn't really know my way around tools, I cross threaded one of the bolts for my passenger seat while installing a fire extinguisher bracket. The price I paid for my stupidity not only a cross threaded bolt, but the welded nut that screwed into had broken its welds and come away from the floor. So what I ended up with was a free spinning bolt that also moved up and down and didn't do much in terms of holding the seat down.

I finally sought advice from a couple of friends (Professor Dan and President JimJim) to find out how this issue could be fixed. Short of cutting a hole in the floor and welding a new nut on the underside, I was introduced to the use of a Nutsert - a threaded socket that you can insert and secure from the outside.

http://www.avdel-global.com/en/products/threaded-inserts/thin-sheet-nutsertr.html

So, the President helped me to fit the nutsert. Firstly, the old bolt had to be removed. This was a done by cutting the head off the bolt.

Done.

It was confirmed that the welded nut had broken off the underside of the floor.

For comparison, here is an undamaged hole where you can see the thread on the nut below the floor.

Next, the hole had to be enlarged slightly to accommodate the nutsert.

The nutsert used is an M10 x P1.5.

Finally, here it is fitted.

Thank you very much to the President and Professor for your guidance and help in cleaning up my mess.