Drilling holes in the Jeep body

[Getaklu]

Does anyone have experience/advice on drilling holes in a Jeep body? About to embark on installing some body armor and flat fenders and there are a bunch of holes to be drilled. 17/32" is the largest and there will be 30+ of them to install rivet nuts. I know I need to step up the drill size through the process of drilling each hole. Any other suggestions (low speed/high speed drilling), caveats, etc? Much appreciated.

[jayson44]

when we did the tub on my TJ, we used a step bit to start small and get bigger. it was a pretty easy process.

J.

[Spieg]

Take your time. Bad holes are a pain to fix... measure twice. Make sure both sides are clear of anything you don't want a hole in (hoses, wires, etc...). I like to start with a center punch to help guide the bit, otherwise it can wander off the mark (sharp bits made for steel are helpful here).

For body armor, I like to put it in place and clamp it down with welding clamps. Then drill the holes in the body using the holes in the armor to line up the hole locations.

[goSlo]

If you have to put in 'nut-serts' and don't have that specific tool, a small impact wrench works great!

Definitely go slow on those, a 'spun' insert will need welding to repair.

Several times I thought it wasn't going to take and I've messed it up somehow, then BAM, it tightened right up with just a few more cranks.

Good luck!

[Getaklu]

Thank you. I put in a couple of nut-serts using the bol/nut/washer setup when I installed some places around me winch. When I saw how many were required for this project, I bought the tool. I tried it on an innocent piece of steel the other day and it seemed slick.

[The StRanger]

Make sure to paint (seal) all the holes, inside & out.

[Java]

What Sam said. I use a q-tip, spray paint the end then shove it in the hole and wiggle it around to paint the backside.