Bottle boss woes, help needed.

So I had a sheared off steel bottle bolt, so no head to work with. I bought some easy outs and set about drilling the pilot hole. Once done, I started with the easy out, but the alloy rivnut sheared off inside the frame (the threaded part only). Hmm, bugger as the easy out was also stuck. I had to cut the easy out down to allow me to remove the remnants of the rivnut from the frame. A pain but no big deal.

So what do I do with the rest? With no thread, what's left of the rivnut serves no purpose, but it's a carbon frame so I'm assuming it's bonded in.

What are my options?

I don't plan on using a bottle cage, so perhaps some form of blanking plug? Normally that would be the job of the bottle boss bolt, but with no thread to screw it into, I need another plan to stop the crud getting in, and a plan that allows me to do the same with the other bottle bosses with threads still intact.

Can the rivnut be replaced? As mentioned, frame is carbon so I don't want to do any damage.

Any help or ideas gratefully received.

Re:

Got a really daft suggestion how about a Rawl plug :facepalm:

Re: Re:

kermitgreenkona88":gg5rell3 said:

Got a really daft suggestion how about a Rawl plug :facepalm:

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Not that daft. I was thinking more along the lines of a rubber grommet or something similar that can push into the hole and seal it. The issue with this is that only one is technically a hole, the other 3 have the threaded section which is an additional 10mm or so into the seat tube.

Re:

Give me the simplicity of a steel frame any day

Tell me about it. I could just use some rubber sealant, but hoping I can find a more elegant solution.

I don't use bottle cage so blank off the holes using short black nylon* M5 cheesehead screws (* for lightness).

No reason by you cannot glue one into the hole.

These sort:


And if you want to go lighter, then some black 5mm drill hole cover caps. I got loads but cant used them as thay are a bit too big for M5 threaded hole (I notice name has "5mm hole" so that explains it) unless hammered in - which is how they are meant to be fitted but since your hole may be bigger, these may work.

Try the little black barrel endcap off a Bic Biro. It's what we used to use BITD!

Re:

Are you sure the rivnut is bonded in?

Could you not drill the remains out (carefully!) and replace it?

Re: Re:

cherrybomb":221ioc8q said:

Are you sure the rivnut is bonded in?

Could you not drill the remains out (carefully!) and replace it?

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I wouldn't swear to it, but as it's the lower boss of the two, it's tricky to get a drill in and I'm loathed to do any damage to the frame.