Bulkhead on panel vans

[Boycie]

Hi guys,

I spotted a genuine Ford, steel bulkhead panel in an ex-BT SWB Transit today, so I un-bolted it and promptly paid Mr Scrappy £20!

It was easy to get out, but I don't know how to remove the captive nuts in the van that the bulkhead bolts into.

Can I buy them from Ford, do they sell them seperately? The ones I left in the scrapyard van seem well in there, can't see a way of removing them.

Cheers!

[MrMPuk]

The are called clinch nuts and can't be removed but you should be able to buy them from any good fixings stockist, but the tool for fitting them is expensive, you could try and make your own tool but can be hard to do.

[MrMPuk]

Have you got a windy gun?

[Boycie]

Ah ha!

Yup got a windy gun. They seem like they've been sort of screwed in and then the outside bits shear off!!!

[Boycie]

PS - I've put this thread in the wrong section... got the bulkhead out of an 'R' plate smiley!!!

[MrMPuk]

You put them in and wind abit in that pulls the back up and it clinches either side of sheet steel, if you've got a windy gun and a piece of think steel you should be able to pull them up with the windy gun.

[Boycie]

Cool, thanks for that.

I shall attempt to buy some clinch nuts tommorrow.

Worth trying Ford... or am I better off at a builders merchants etc?

[MrMPuk]

Neither, have a look around. Try a local fabrication company, they'll probably give you a hand full for free. You need to make sure they are the hex type though, M6 I believe.

[Boycie]

ok cool.

Yup, the holes in my van are hexagon shaped! (apart from the top ones... but those fixings just seemed to pull out!)

Cheers for the advice