Ceiling removal hell/tracks

[Joe45]

My skoolie had tie-down tracks just above the windows, front to back. Those came out easy.


I went to remove the ceiling panels today, and found that the anchors that once held the tracks to the ceiling are holding the ceiling to the body. They are like rivets with an open center for the bolts: like a threaded donut.



I banged them, tried cutting them, but won't budge without excessive banging and slamming after cutting.


Does anyone have any ideas how to get these things off?


I've attacked a picture.

[HazMatt]

Never seen the like before. Not that that'll slow me down in flappin' my keyboard atcha!
Is it possible the receivers are threaded into something behind the ceiling? Where are these threaded dog nuts at, in relation to the hat channels?
Have you tried taking a chisel, stamping a groove into the offending fastener, and then using hammer & chisel (at @45°) to spin it off. Unlikely, but may be left hand thread.
Could reinstall with LokTite, and use that as a corkscrew at last resort.

Originally Posted by Joe45

My skoolie had tie-down tracks just above the windows, front to back. Those came out easy.


I went to remove the ceiling panels today, and found that the anchors that once held the tracks to the ceiling are holding the ceiling to the body. They are like rivets with an open center for the bolts: like a threaded donut.



I banged them, tried cutting them, but won't budge without excessive banging and slamming after cutting.


Does anyone have any ideas how to get these things off?


I've attacked a picture.
Attachment 34679

AHA!!! Theres your problem!
Attack the fitting, not the picture...

[Joe45]

Can't get behind them without removing the ceiling panels! Kind of a catch 22!!!

[Joe45]

Just had a thought: Maybe I can just cut off just above the horizontal frame piece that the nuts are fastened to and remove the panel above that. This would allow me to access them from behind.



Also, I can just leave that area below them and use those anchors to attach cabinets, etc.The area will be covered anyway.

[HazMatt]

That might be the more elegant solution. Its pretty obvious they aren't going ANYWHERE, easily. Heck of a sturdy place to hang an armoire!
Maybe hole saw the most inconspicuous one, to see what you're up against...

[Danjo]

Drill out the center?

[o1marc]

They are threaded inserts. You'll need to grind the flange off or drill them out. I would guess they would dull drill bits rapidly. I just put a bunch in my doors.

[Danjo]

You might be able to screw a screw with a nut on it onto it, tighten the nut down and then spin it out.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Danjo

You might be able to screw a screw with a nut on it onto it, tighten the nut down and then spin it out.

Not metal ones, that's like trying to spin out a pop rivet.

Threaded inserts are basically like a pop rivet the difference being the mandrel is threaded to pull the back of the insert forward. You squeeze it until it is sandwiched between the metal

[Joe45]

Holy cow! Yeah, I'd probably need a dozen brand new drill bits each!


I'm gonna go with cutting above them and leaving them in to anchor stuff.


Thank you all!

[bluebird90]

What you have there are called nut-serts. Drilling them is the best way to go. You actually just need to drill about 1/4 in.

[Joe45]

Originally Posted by bluebird90

What you have there are called nut-serts. Drilling them is the best way to go. You actually just need to drill about 1/4 in.

That's good to know. Thank you.
Just seems that it will eat up drill bits.
I may give it a try.

[Native]

Disclaimer: I have not had to remove any of these ...


One way to remove rivets is to use the angle grinder with the cut-off blade in it. You could adapt this technique to this situation as well.


Cut "X"'s through the portion of the "lag" nut on the inside of the ceiling panel. Then use an air chisel (or a cold chisel and hammer) and break the piece apart by striking almost parallel with the ceiling panel, perpendicular to the bolts that used to be in the "lag" nuts.

[Joe45]

Thanks.
Will consider that too!

[WARGEAR]

Nut-sert is an accurate term for those. I’ve heard them called rivnuts in the past too! Installs like a rivet but has threads like a nut! Cut off the flange of that top hat with a grinding wheel and it’ll knock right in. That’s if you decide you want to!

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by WARGEAR

Nut-sert is an accurate term for those. I’ve heard them called rivnuts in the past too! Installs like a rivet but has threads like a nut! Cut off the flange of that top hat with a grinding wheel and it’ll knock right in. That’s if you decide you want to!

Not an accurate term, Nutsert is a brand name of a threaded insert, which is the proper term for the item. Rivnut is also a brand name.

[WARGEAR]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Not an accurate term, Nutsert is a brand name of a threaded insert, which is the proper term for the item. Rivnut is also a brand name.

One of those things where a name has become a household brand that people forget what the things are really called (channel locks, vice grips, Brillo pad, etc.) the brand name becomes the item name!

[HazMatt]

...Xerox, Zipper, Aspirin...

[Joe45]

Originally Posted by WARGEAR

Nut-sert is an accurate term for those. I’ve heard them called rivnuts in the past too! Installs like a rivet but has threads like a nut! Cut off the flange of that top hat with a grinding wheel and it’ll knock right in. That’s if you decide you want to!

Can't get the angle on the cutoff disk enough to cut off the flange, so I did the "X" thing. Hopefully I can take them out with a chisel.

[bus-bro]

To me, that looks like a rivnut put in the perforated metal. From the picture I can't see that it's connected to the bus itself. What I'm trying to say is that you might not have to remove it to take down the perforated ceiling metal, if that's what you're trying to do.