mudflap ripped off, stripped screw holes

I made some custom front flaps after I lost one of my originals a few months ago. A replacement would have been $106CDN. I ripped one of my replacements clean off, took 2 of the 3 screws with it. The screw holes are stripped now. Is there a filler of some sort I can use to get a screw back in there?

Reply to
Brad P
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You can use a Riv-Nut, which is a cross between a pop rivet and a blind nut, they install in a blind hole and pull into place (no popping, you have to do them by feel to know when they are disrupted enough), and then you unthread the mandrel and insert your screw. There are a lot of different brands that are the same basic thing - some use a proprietary installer tool (I have one), others use a special threaded mandrel and a standard pop rivet tool.

But they can come loose and spin in the hole if overtorqued or the fastener is constantly removed and replaced. They have keyed ones that won't spin as easily, but you need to make a notch in the sheetmetal hole for the key to lock into - and even those can still be spun, you just have to work a little harder at it.

If it's near the edge of the sheetmetal and fairly flat, you can slide a U-shaped speednut clip over the edge of the fender, and use the same size sheetmetal screw in the hole.

Or the old standby, you can get the next size larger sheetmetal screw and thread it into the larger hole you now have - IE. if you ripped a #6 SMS out, use a #8 SMS to replace it - or a #10 if you did a really good job. ;-0

They also make #12 and #14...

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

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