Jerry Scott[CO]
Viper Owner
Are you tired of the sill covers constantly coming loose and sheet metal screws falling out on all Vipers? The screws can easily get into the rear tires, since they drop in front of the rear wheels. If you have had the covers off once or twice, the self taping no. 8 sheet metal screws will eventually strip out the holes in the sheet metal and fall out.
The fix for this problem is to use no. 10-32 rivet nuts in the existing holes, then use stainless no. 10 button head machine screws to replace the sheet metal screws. You could also use a standard hex head 10-32 x 3/4 bolt, but the Allen head makes a nicer looking finish and will drive much easier with an Allen wrench. With this modification, you can take the sill covers off all you want and still not destroy the threads.
First remove the sill cover. This is accomplished by removing the 10 screws on each side sill as follows. Lift the hole plugs in the sill plate, and remove the four screws in the door sill. These plastic plugs have release tabs 180 deg. apart and require a very thin paint scraper to reach under the head and depress the tabs. Otherwise you will destroy the plug by just prying them out. Then remove the two screws in front of each door. Next remove the four screws on the bottom of each sill cover, under the car. Now the side sill cover can be removed by pulling outward. You need to drill out the existing 18 holes in the car body with a 19/64 in. very sharp drill bit. To get a nice clean hole, it is a good idea to progressively drill the hole larger with smaller drill bits. I first used a 3/16, then a 1/4, then the final 19/64 in. drill. It is very important to make a clean round hole to get the rivet nut to clench properly. If you don’t have a drill bit sharpener, then buy a new 19/64 drill bit. The tool that I used is from JC Whitney, 800-529-4486, (page 168 of Jan. 2001 catalog) and is called a Thread Setter made by Marson. The part no. is 81EB5310P kit, for $89.99, which is for the steel rivet nuts, not the aluminum nuts. I did not use their rivet nuts since they were not plated and concluded that they might rust. I used a rivet nut from Reid Tool Company, 800-253-0421. The part no. is BTI-40 on page 232, is a 10-32 thread, and is plated. The cost is $.23 each and you can order any quantity. You will need 18 of these, but it is a good idea to get some extras. It works similar to a pop rivet gun, except that you unscrew the mandrel from the nut after the nut is set. It is probably a good idea to first work with the two top locations in front of the doors, where you can see how much force it takes to get a good clench of the rivet nut. You do have to use both hands when squeezing the rivet gun and it does take a fair amount of grip. On the bottom locations, after you have drilled the new hole, make sure that you clean around the hole surface to remove any body putty and any sheet metal burrs with a Dremel tool or file. You want a clean flat surface to seat the rivet. You may want to spray black paint on any places where you may have bare metal showing, to prevent rust. All of the rivet nuts, except for the six in the doors are very easy to set. The rivet nuts in the door sills required making a spacer for the tool, so that it will reach into the recessed holes. A steel cylindrical spacer that has a .195 in. hole, outside diameter approx. .375 in., and .680 in. long will work, or use a stack of #10 x 1/2 flat washers to get the approximate .680 spacer length dimension. The 3/4 in. body washers are a little tight getting into the 3/4 in. plug holes, so you may have to just touch the O.D. of the washer with a grinder, or just use a 1/2 in. washer in the door sills instead of the 3/4 in.. There is one screw hole in the sill plate, under each door that will require removing the door to put in a rivet nut, but you can just leave this one empty and replace the plastic plug as I did and not remove the door. The other 9 machine screws on each cover are quite enough to hold it in place. Use 3/4 in. or 1/2 in. long stainless Allen button head 10-32 machine screws with stainless 3/4 in. body washers and stainless lock washers. Use a small dab of anti-seize compound on each screw to prevent any corrosion or galling. You can substitute a 10-24 size screw and rivet nut, for the 10-32 if you prefer the coarse threads. I first thought I would use the 8-32 size screw but found it to be too small, in my opinion. Replace the four plastic hole plugs in each sill plate. The new look is very professional and the machine screws will not fall out. I’ll never understand why Dodge did not do this at the factory, since many Viper owners will remove the sills several times for various modifications. The project takes about 2 or 3 hours to complete and you will probably find many other uses for the rivet nut tool on the Viper.
Here's a source for the 10-32 x 3/4 stainless button head screws, the #10 x 3/4 in. stainless washers, the #10 stainless 3/4 in. lock washers, the plated 10-32 steel rivet nuts (their no. 7450), and the 19/64 dia. drill bit. You will need 18 fasteners each and 1 drill bit, but get some extra fasteners. This company will send you a kit of 20 each and 1 drill bit for $14.28. The company is: Alloy Fasteners, 303-761-5477 in Denver. Ask for Scott. They also have the Marson Thread Setter tool, but I believe it is cheaper through JC Whitney. They do not take credit cards but will take a check or money order.
My thanks to Kip at K&P Engineering for helping me solve this problem and for loaning me the rivet nut tool.
Jerry Scott (CO) 303-697-0662
The fix for this problem is to use no. 10-32 rivet nuts in the existing holes, then use stainless no. 10 button head machine screws to replace the sheet metal screws. You could also use a standard hex head 10-32 x 3/4 bolt, but the Allen head makes a nicer looking finish and will drive much easier with an Allen wrench. With this modification, you can take the sill covers off all you want and still not destroy the threads.
First remove the sill cover. This is accomplished by removing the 10 screws on each side sill as follows. Lift the hole plugs in the sill plate, and remove the four screws in the door sill. These plastic plugs have release tabs 180 deg. apart and require a very thin paint scraper to reach under the head and depress the tabs. Otherwise you will destroy the plug by just prying them out. Then remove the two screws in front of each door. Next remove the four screws on the bottom of each sill cover, under the car. Now the side sill cover can be removed by pulling outward. You need to drill out the existing 18 holes in the car body with a 19/64 in. very sharp drill bit. To get a nice clean hole, it is a good idea to progressively drill the hole larger with smaller drill bits. I first used a 3/16, then a 1/4, then the final 19/64 in. drill. It is very important to make a clean round hole to get the rivet nut to clench properly. If you don’t have a drill bit sharpener, then buy a new 19/64 drill bit. The tool that I used is from JC Whitney, 800-529-4486, (page 168 of Jan. 2001 catalog) and is called a Thread Setter made by Marson. The part no. is 81EB5310P kit, for $89.99, which is for the steel rivet nuts, not the aluminum nuts. I did not use their rivet nuts since they were not plated and concluded that they might rust. I used a rivet nut from Reid Tool Company, 800-253-0421. The part no. is BTI-40 on page 232, is a 10-32 thread, and is plated. The cost is $.23 each and you can order any quantity. You will need 18 of these, but it is a good idea to get some extras. It works similar to a pop rivet gun, except that you unscrew the mandrel from the nut after the nut is set. It is probably a good idea to first work with the two top locations in front of the doors, where you can see how much force it takes to get a good clench of the rivet nut. You do have to use both hands when squeezing the rivet gun and it does take a fair amount of grip. On the bottom locations, after you have drilled the new hole, make sure that you clean around the hole surface to remove any body putty and any sheet metal burrs with a Dremel tool or file. You want a clean flat surface to seat the rivet. You may want to spray black paint on any places where you may have bare metal showing, to prevent rust. All of the rivet nuts, except for the six in the doors are very easy to set. The rivet nuts in the door sills required making a spacer for the tool, so that it will reach into the recessed holes. A steel cylindrical spacer that has a .195 in. hole, outside diameter approx. .375 in., and .680 in. long will work, or use a stack of #10 x 1/2 flat washers to get the approximate .680 spacer length dimension. The 3/4 in. body washers are a little tight getting into the 3/4 in. plug holes, so you may have to just touch the O.D. of the washer with a grinder, or just use a 1/2 in. washer in the door sills instead of the 3/4 in.. There is one screw hole in the sill plate, under each door that will require removing the door to put in a rivet nut, but you can just leave this one empty and replace the plastic plug as I did and not remove the door. The other 9 machine screws on each cover are quite enough to hold it in place. Use 3/4 in. or 1/2 in. long stainless Allen button head 10-32 machine screws with stainless 3/4 in. body washers and stainless lock washers. Use a small dab of anti-seize compound on each screw to prevent any corrosion or galling. You can substitute a 10-24 size screw and rivet nut, for the 10-32 if you prefer the coarse threads. I first thought I would use the 8-32 size screw but found it to be too small, in my opinion. Replace the four plastic hole plugs in each sill plate. The new look is very professional and the machine screws will not fall out. I’ll never understand why Dodge did not do this at the factory, since many Viper owners will remove the sills several times for various modifications. The project takes about 2 or 3 hours to complete and you will probably find many other uses for the rivet nut tool on the Viper.
Here's a source for the 10-32 x 3/4 stainless button head screws, the #10 x 3/4 in. stainless washers, the #10 stainless 3/4 in. lock washers, the plated 10-32 steel rivet nuts (their no. 7450), and the 19/64 dia. drill bit. You will need 18 fasteners each and 1 drill bit, but get some extra fasteners. This company will send you a kit of 20 each and 1 drill bit for $14.28. The company is: Alloy Fasteners, 303-761-5477 in Denver. Ask for Scott. They also have the Marson Thread Setter tool, but I believe it is cheaper through JC Whitney. They do not take credit cards but will take a check or money order.
My thanks to Kip at K&P Engineering for helping me solve this problem and for loaning me the rivet nut tool.
Jerry Scott (CO) 303-697-0662
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