One fix here is to fit a nut, then flat washer, to a longish bolt, run them part way down, then screw the bolt into the rivnut. Hold the bolt head to prevent it turning and tighten the nut so it pulls the bolt in order to collapse / mushroom the bottom of the rivnut until it no longer turns. If the thread is metric 1.0 pitch, one turn of the nut pulls the bolt and crushes the rivnut 1mm. Then remove and fit the correct bolt. That is all that the correct tool does and the rivnut has those axial grooves to promote the mushrooming effect and to grip the surface to which it is being fitted. It simply looks like it wasn't properly installed at the factory. Look for some pics and vids of how to install a rivnut and you will get the idea....No special tools needed just a long bolt, round sleeve bolt fits through, then sert nut through correct size hole. Hold sleeve with vice grips & tighten the long bolt with a wrench until sert nut is crushed to tightly hold in place.
Picture?Use coupler nuts drilled smooth. Then a spanner to hold still while a long bolt pulls the insert to crush and lock it in place. I get more pressure that way than using the insert tool.
Same as the sleeve held with vice grips.Picture?
I was going to make a silly joke here, using the word "Babbitt", which I had heard but didn't know the meaning of. Upon Googling, I now understand a bit more. Having seen plenty of bearings, I had known the concept but not the applicable word..It only aluminium by the looks of it? My rivnut gun can provide enough pressure to deform the threads on the alloy inserts to the point where it's nearly impossible to get the tool to unscrew.
If you are going to use the nut/bolt spanners idea just nip it up, don't wrench on it, and when you fit the proper bolt just nip it up too.
Fun fact, my auto correct turns rivnut gun into rabbit gun.
My father learnt his trade in the '50s and he often spoke of pouring and scraping babbitt bearings, particularly on old truck engines. I would still have his bearing scrapers here somewhere, not that I know how to use them.I was going to make a silly joke here, using the word "Babbitt", which I had heard but didn't know the meaning of. Upon Googling, I now understand a bit more. Having seen plenty of bearings, I had known the concept but not the applicable word..
Babbitt (alloy) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org