62 trunk sill rivet

[Chris H.]

Maybe I am going to far BUT the rivets that Paragon and Dr. Rebuild sell for the rear trunk sill and most other places in the body are solid aluminum, oval/countersunk rivets. When I look at the rivets I have in my trunk I see either a hole or a depression on both sides of the rivet. How do I get this look. Picture shows my rivets.

user/password is chenige/chenige

http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewalbum.html?alb=121588

[John M.]

Re: 62 trunk sill rivet

Chris,

Those are clearly pop rivets, and I am not sure where it is that you are talking about, but I a pretty confident that no pop rivets were ever used on C1 cars. I know that on both my 59 and 60, that all rivets were a solid bucked aluminum rivet. Many times someone just uses a pop rivet when replacing a part because they do not have the tools or knowledge to buck a rivet.

Regards, John McGraw

[Chris H.]

Re: 62 trunk sill rivet

Oh no, everyone of the rivets down both sides appear this way. Most seem to be peened down flat but some do have a little buldging tail on them. This is along the trunk gutter on both sides.

I hate to ask but for what reason would someone have to remove and then replace all the rivets. The large rivets holding the sill to the hinges and all the other rivets along the front sill seem to be original.

[Tracy C.]

Re: 62 trunk sill rivet

Chris,

I think the same as John Mc on this one. This appears to be a pop rivet head. The bulging tail you describe is also typical of a "pull type" fastner. The variance in the tail (butt) side is likely the result of the installer using different grip length rivets during the installation.

Can't speak to why someone replaced the rivets other than maybe this whole piece was repaired or replaced at some point in the cars history.

tc

[Chris H.]

Re: 62 trunk sill rivet

Yep, it looks like some of the pop rivets were not even long enough and missed the side brackets. Guess I will drill them all out and replace.

Thanks

[Chuck S.]

Re: 62 trunk sill rivet

Yep, you can still see the remains of the mandrel in the hole. Probably a body shop repair.

On my car, all of the factory pop-rivets I can think of (the factory used pop rivets in some places on C3s) had the mandrel pulled completely out of the hole...no mandrel remains; just a hole. I don't know if that was intentional or just from using power rivet guns, but it does make a nicer installation IMO.

[Chris H.]

Re: 62 trunk sill rivet

I am afraid of a body shop repair. Need to get someone to take a good look at my trunk area and see what I have. I see on the left side the backup strip? is pulled away from the fender.

[Chuck S.]

Re: 62 trunk sill rivet

Even if it was repaired, the use of pop rivets doesn't necessarily mean it was a bad repair. Pop rivets would be an expedient way for a commercial body shop to make a very good repair when the customer wasn't necessarily interested in originality. Pop rivets would be a familiar repair method for a body shop; peening over factory style rivets probably would not.

At your car's age, separation of a bonding strip is not necessarily unusal in my opinion, and doesn't necessarily mean a bad repair...one element of restoration is "pointing up the mortar" where it's fallen out of the *****s.

[Chris H.]

Re: 62 trunk sill rivet

I am not worried about the usage of pop rivets. I am worried that body panels were replaced! I will replace the rivets though with proper ones. They are on the way.

Chris

[John M.]

Re: 62 trunk sill rivet

Chris,

Get yourself a couple of wingnut cleco's to hold the pieces together while riveting.
http://www.yardstore.com/index.cfm?A...ry&Category=91

These tools will pull the pieces together tightly while you install the rivets.
You only need a couple, as you can move them ahead as you rivet. They will avoid spaces between the panels being riveted together and keep the rivets from expanding between the parts. You can also use some small screws and nuts to accomplish the same task. These guys also sell the rivet sets to drive those solid aluminum rivets.

Regards, John McGraw

[Chris H.]

Re: 62 trunk sill rivet

I already ordered the rivet setter from them. I will remove the rivets ine at a time so the Cleco will not be needed.

Still need to find a few semi tubular rivets for the gas filler door yet.

Thanks.

[John M.]

Re: 62 trunk sill rivet

Chris,

Try these guys:

http://www.rivetsinstock.com/rivet22.htm

Yhey have a full stock of semi-tubular eivets as well as the proper tool to roll the tails with. These rivets work differently than solid rivets. On these rivets, you drive on the tails of the rivets, and the tool rolls the rivet tail over to a uniform appearance. I have tried in the past to get a good looking finished product without the proper set, but did not have any luck.

Regards, John McGraw