What kind of faster is this?
Discussion
I’ve recently purchased a new Renault Master van, but unfortunately it only came with a single passenger seat.
I managed to find a lightly used and cheap passenger bench seat which I’m trying to fit today, but the fasteners covering the blanking holes in the floor are a strange type which I’ve never seen before and are bevelled at the leading edge so I can’t use a large flat bladed screwdriver on them.
Any idea what this type of fastener is called please fellas?
Cheers in advance
I managed to find a lightly used and cheap passenger bench seat which I’m trying to fit today, but the fasteners covering the blanking holes in the floor are a strange type which I’ve never seen before and are bevelled at the leading edge so I can’t use a large flat bladed screwdriver on them.
Any idea what this type of fastener is called please fellas?
Cheers in advance
E63eeeeee... said:
One way security screw. You can get a dedicated removal tool from Ryobi but I don't know if they come in different sizes so you might be best checking with Renault.
Thank you E63.I’ve had a look at the prices of those tools. Blimey
They’re not cheap !Added to which, with a hex bolt, it’s easy to measure the fastener head to see which size socket you need. But with these one-way screws???
The total diameter of the head is 17mm. The gap or slot in the middle of this fastener is 5-5.5mm.
I assumed that on a brand new van, (less than six weeks old), my days of wrestling with stubborn fasteners would be over. Until that is, this Renault decided to go all French on me
What should have been a nice, easy couple of hours work has turned into remove the old seat, faff about for an hour trying to work out what bizarre fastener this is, only to re-fit the original bloody seat and go back to square one.
That does sound like a completely unnecessary ballache. At least it sounds like it's not too small and you've got some space to play with for the other more destructive options. I might be inclined to start by trying to dremel enough of a groove in it to get a flat blade screwdriver engaged.
E63eeeeee... said:
That does sound like a completely unnecessary ballache. At least it sounds like it's not too small and you've got some space to play with for the other more destructive options. I might be inclined to start by trying to dremel enough of a groove in it to get a flat blade screwdriver engaged.
The thought has crossed my mind.However, this is a brand new van and I’m loathe to risk damaging it already.
My concern of using a dremal / angle grinder to cut a groove in the head of the fastener is that if the bloody thing doesn’t come undone at that point then I’ll have to remove the carpet, (vinyl?) to file a hex onto the head to get an open ended spanner on it. And to remove the carpet / vinyl, I’d need to remove the bulkhead. And to remove the bulkhead, I’d have to remove the plylined floor. And to remove the ply-lined floor, I’d have to remove the compressed foam flooring on top of that. Welding a nut onto the fastener isn’t an option as it’s an electric van, and who knows what damage I’d cause doing that?
I think you can see where this job could be catastrophically going, so perhaps prudence would dictate getting the correct tool for the job and fitting this seat next Sunday.
Edited by 105.4 on Sunday 13th October 17:21
Belle427 said:
Tap it around with a small chisel, it should loosen off.
I undid the other four seat bolts with the air impact gun, rather than using a ratchet, so I’m not too sure how tight they are.Even with 3/8 Astro Pneumatic impact gun, it took a few ‘ugga-dugga’s’ to get the bolts undone.
Caddyshack said:
Drill or grind the head off and the middle will undo with grips, then put a normal screw back in
If it was a desperate job that needed doing in order to get the van on the road for work in the morning, I would do.But I’ve managed to go five weeks with only one passenger seat. For the sake of not screwing things up, I think I’ll rather wait another week until I’ve got the correct tool for the job.
normalbloke said:
An impact driver isn’t such a bad idea actually 
I’m still favouring getting the right tool for the job though. Anything that is tax deductible is always a bonus.
Maybe just drill a hole in the head of the bolt and use a stud extractor.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/bolt-extractor-set-5-pi...
I would suggest getting the correct bolts to fit the new seat, Renault obviously put security bolts in for a reason.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/bolt-extractor-set-5-pi...
I would suggest getting the correct bolts to fit the new seat, Renault obviously put security bolts in for a reason.
Edited by FMOB on Sunday 13th October 17:35
FMOB said:
Maybe just drill a hole in the head of the bolt and use a stud extractor.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/bolt-extractor-set-5-pi...
That’s another option which had crossed my mind, but I have concerns about if the job goes wrong and I’ve buggered up the head of the fastener.https://www.screwfix.com/p/bolt-extractor-set-5-pi...
I think I’ll get the correct tool for the job and fit the seat next Sunday.
FMOB said:
I would suggest getting the correct bolts to fit the new seat, Renault obviously put security bolts in for a reason.
Absolutely.There’s four fittings / bolts that are used for the single passenger seat. The bench seat requires five fittings / bolts.
Whilst I could get a Chinesium bolt for a few pence at a local ironmongers, it looks like Renault sell the seat bolts individually, so I’ll get a proper one ordered tomorrow.
As for the security fastener removal tool, I’ve just ordered a set of three different sized used ones off of eBay for £6, which I thought was a decent bargain
If the removal tools don't work out, can I echo the earlier suggestion of a small cold chisel and hammer to push the fasteners round? This doesn't entail using the chisel to punch a slot in the top, you put the chisel to the "ramp" on one side and tap it to make it turn anticlockwise. Once you have it loose enough just grab with any sort of grips and turn it. You're not going to be reusing the fastener so no need to save it.
I have a tiny little chisel (I think 4mm) for precisely this job, such is the usefulness when it comes up!
I have a tiny little chisel (I think 4mm) for precisely this job, such is the usefulness when it comes up!
Gassing Station | Home Mechanics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff