On the nut in the link you sent: I think I could even handle that! Good
idea.

Jim

On Sat, Oct 13, 2018 at 1:10 PM Neil N <musomuso@gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks Jim.
>
> Maybe I've been lucky in the past but for the stuff I'm doing, I've
> been able to tack nuts fairly accurately. Or, rather, positioning
> inaccuracies have not reared their ugly head yet. LOL.
>
> On one part, I recall tack welding a flanged type nut .jpg  image link:
>
> https://images.lowes.ca/img/p400/13173/008236712094_ca.jpg
>
> so in hindsight, that flange might've helped spread out weld heat so
> it wouldn't distort the nut. Regardless, the flange helped keep nut
> aligned flat to the parent metal. I either bolt the nut to the work
> then weld it or just clamp it.
>
> At the risk of boring folks to death with exhaust design talk, the WBX
> position 50º ABA I4 VW engine I've installed in my 88 Vanagon locates
> the muffler fairly close to the rear apron. Lowering the engine to fit
> under the cover added space between crank pulley and rear apron but
> positioning the WBX 1.9 muffler end as close as possible to the engine
> side diesel Vanagon exhaust bracket located the cat/muffler flanges
> close to that diesel Vanagon exhaust bracket. Since the bracket I made
> to to adapt those parts had to be short, space that kept getting
> "taken up" became more critical. So, it's one thing to see and know
> you're adding thickness to the diesel bracket but it's another thing
> to find that after tack welding on a plate, the bolt that did pass
> through now has to pass through other side of the bracket. Rookie
> mistake. Ovalling the bolt holes in new plate is an option but my Plan
> B of captive nuts makes more sense.
>
> Thanks for point to riv nuts and "x" metal cage tip. I'll look that up.
>
> ;)
>
> Neil.
>
>
> On 10/13/18, Jim Felder <jim.felder@gmail.com> wrote:
> > In Army machinist school we were never taught that there was a right
> > component to tighten. Captive nuts that are truly captive—welded to the
> > material part—have to be very precisely aligned. Plus not everyone has a
> way
> > of tacking down a nut without screwing it up. The other way is to make a
> > sheet metal cage out of an X of steel that captures the nut but let’s the
> > nut move around enough to engage a bolt entering at an imperfect angle or
> > position.
> >
> > And then there are rivnuts. The sets with the big pliers are very
> expensive
> > but lately I have seen them with small wrench operated systems.
> >
> > But another option for you is to just take the part you make to a racing
> > shop and see what they can do for you without buying and experimenting
> with
> > a bunch of stuff.
> >
> > Jim
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> >> On Oct 12, 2018, at 2:41 PM, Neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >>
>
> >> Application: custom muffler bracket mounted to a VW I4 gas engine in a
> >> Vanagon.
> >>
> >> From a design standpoint, for parts using nut & bolt fasteners, since
> >> one tightens the nut to the bolt, are captive nuts more or less a
> >> "last resort" in terms of design?
> >>
> >> With captive nuts, I guess that since the nut wouldn't have a washer,
> >> maybe tightening the bolt to the nut still provides a proper union?
>
>
> --
> Neil n
>
> Blog: Vanagons, Westfalia, general <http://tubaneil.blogspot.ca>
>
> 1988 Westy Images <https://picasaweb.google.com/musomuso/New1988Westy>
>
> 1981 Westfalia "Jaco" Images, technical <http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/>
>
> Vanagon-Bus VAG Gas Engine Swap Group <http://tinyurl.com/khalbay>
>