fastenings
 

my sportster bonnet has a full length brass hinge held by lots of fasteners, these have a round smooth head and are hollow a nut is fitted at the back, I need to remove all these to separate the 2 halfs for a paint job, how does one remove them ? a small spanner will turn the nut but the whole lot turns and no way of holding the head. any advice?

Are the screws not just cap head with a hex hole for an allen key? That is what most people have used. With the smaller cap head screws the hole often looks round but if you look carefully it is probably hexagonal.

Robin

fastening
 

many thanks, the heads are slightly raised, circular, flat top with no aperture for any tool, the head incorporates a washer, on the other side the bolt is hollow and is held with a small nut, looks like I may have to drill up in to the hollow taking away the thin metal which would allow the nut to drop and that would allow the head to be removed.

Very strange. I don't think I have ever come across anything like that before. Before you attack them with the drill have you tried turning the nut to see if the head turns with it? I suppose they could be tiny coach bolts incorporating a flat to stop them turning - but I don't think I have seen any small enough to use with the bonnet hinge.

Robin

This is interesting as I plan to fit smooth top screw/rivets (though not hollow).
My plan is to use a piece of pliable rubber to hold the screw under thumb pressure whilst tightening with a spanner.

Perhaps you could try the reverse to get yours off. The secret is finding "the right type" of rubber which when pressed hard against the rivet is grippy enough to stop it rotating. Pressing hard with your thumb should then do the trick.

Mike

fastenings
 

SOLVED, managed to speak to terry Dutton who built her, special from the aircraft industry, titanium, the hole in the bolt is a tiny allen key which holds the bolt while tightening the nut. :icon_smile:

I was just about to reply when I noticed you had solved your problem. There are also fasteners used in the marine industry which are similar and I believe are called internuts. They are often used on cabin windows when you don't wish to have unsightly nuts on the inside

Alan

It appears the modern meaning of Internuts is quite different - Google it and see what it comes up with!

Mike

Mike
Now there's a surprise!
What I meant to call them was interscrews or socket screws. Lets hope that doesn't throw up any unusual hobbies