speed nuts - anything tricky?

[Ted_S]

Through a very helpful fellow boardmember I obtained the correct color "porsche" script for my 1972 911 in response to a recent thread.

They have the speed nuts that cut their own thread on the post. It looks straightforward, but I really don't want to screw it up.

Any gotchas/tips with installing these?

many thanks,
Ted

[kentf14]

Pretty straight foreword in my experience. You just want to stop turning the wrench once the nut is tight enough. If you over torque, you risk stripping them out a little.
Good luck!

[JohnT]

Gary Emory told me to put them on a flat surface, sticky side down and smack the top (cutters) with the ball of a ball peen hammer before installing. This was to reduce the size of the hole and tighten the fit. If one smacks too many times, it may be satisfying, but the soft (locking?) material will come out. I also put a blob of Silicone or RTV on the end of the post after tightening the nut so it shouldn't fall into a carburetor velocity stack after it comes loose. Perhaps if I had more confidence that I had installed it correctly in the first place the last step wouldn't be so critical.

johnt

[gsjohnson]

I start and thread the nut first with the emblem upsidedown on the work bench. Put slight downward pressure on the nut with the correct sized socket and begin to turn the nut starting the thread process.

[Ted_S]

thanks everyone - advice was followed and helpful, and the process straightforward, EXCEPT...

I managed in the process to drop a nut down into the engine, even though I was specifically focused on making sure that didn't happen. I ended up taking off the air filter cover to get better access to retrieve it, still no small feat with my clumsy hands - finally got the fallen nut.

I went to put the air filter cover back on and did one tighten turn too many, snapping a nylon bolt in the process which I now need to replace (2.4 MFI - looks like 40mm long x 13mm head width x 8mm body body... anyone confirm that's the right size?)

Must be some sort of circle of life thing - one porsche project completed results in another one starting...

Ted