A nutsert works on the same principal as a pop rivet.
The base of the nutsert under the panel your putting it in expands under pressure and locks it to the object.
Nutserts are great to use because they have a thread inside to bolt things to without needing to get underneath the object and try to hold a nut on, etc.
Perfect for fixing things to vehicle such as snorkels, etc because you don't have to remove the trim inside the A pillar or try to get in underneath the engine bay, etc.
This isn't the funnest job in the world and can take some time but if your doing half a dozen nutserts then this method works without buying special tooling.
Based on a 10mm nutsert.
See below for rough diagram...
- Drill your 10mm hole into the object to nutsert to.
- Using a 10mm bolt, screw a nut on the thread of the bolt followed by a washer hand screw the bolt through the middle of the nutsert threads until it comes out the other side.
- Put the nutert with the bolt screwed in, into the hole.
- Using vise grips or a spanner hold the top of the bolt head.
- Using a spanner start to tighten the nut (clockwise direction) This pulls the nutsert up and expands the nutsert which will hug underneath the panel and lock it in......When it gets extremely hard to rotate the nut then thats it.