59 front bracket rivet

[R K.]

After owning this basket case 1959 Corvette for 35+ years storing it in various places I am finally retired and able to start restoration. This is my first post with likely more to come with bunches of dumb questions.

I have finished the frame. Put the body back on and am now on to the front end removing small parts, cleaning, painting and reinstalling them. The car will be a driver - - not perfect but I am trying to keep things correct where practical. This brings me to the front bracket rivets. The assembly manual calls for #455624 rivet which after searching is an oval head rivet with 3/16" shaft but the rivets in the car have a flat head. It doesn't appear that the car has been worked on, it is the original paint - - it only has about 58,000 miles. So I am trying to figure out what is correct. I can't seem to find a 59 or 60 corvette to look at in our area.
Below is a picture of what is there now. Not sure if you can blow it up to see the rivet head but it is flat - - maybe sanded flat - - not sure. If necessary I can make a correct size rivet on my lathe but that seems excessive. Also, I am sure there is a tool to install these but where do I buy one?

Any help would be appreciated.

Reggie

[Richard M.]

Re: 59 front bracket rivet

Reggie, Welcome..... Glad you can finally get to have fun with your '59. I've owned my own '59 for 30 years.

That area does look original to me. Those brackets are badly rusted so I can understand why you want to remove them. FYI, they are available in reproduction, of which I've used before and are adequate replacements.

For the rivets, all I have seen are flat head, but I think they may have a conical bevel on the underside of the head. It's a difficult area to reach using a soft rivet swedging tool. The factory may have used a oval head then simply sanded flat.

You may want to consider using 3/16" Pop rivets, then sand the head flat then fill the cavity with filler and sand before paint. I used this process on a re-nose on a '59 a few years ago and nearly impossible to see the difference after paint.

Rich

edit....Here are the repro brackets from Zip, and in fact they do show a countersunk rivet used to attach them.

http://www.zip-corvette.com/53-62-c1/exterior-trim/corvette-grill-components/nose-support-rods/58-62-grill-support-rod-brackets.html

If you just need the rivets to reuse your original brackets, those are available separately...

http://www.zip-corvette.com/53-62-c1/body-fiberglass/corvette-body-assembly-rivets/53-67-aluminum-countersunk-rivets-50-pack.html

And here is a tool to set the rivets, but as mentioned, it's a tough area to access.

http://www.zip-corvette.com/53-62-c1/body-fiberglass/corvette-body-assembly-rivets/body-rivet-setting-tool.html

[R K.]

Re: 59 front bracket rivet

Rich,

Thanks for the response and info. I removed the brackets today. They are very rusted so I will get new ones from ZIP with the included rivets. It did appear that the rivets were countersunk when I drilled them out. Also, the brackets have a notch cut out of the bottom unlike the ones in the picture but it is easy to modify with a bandsaw. It appears that the notch is to allow clearance for the support bar but likely is not necessary.

As far as the tools - - I can't see myself hammering the rivet so am looking at a rivet squeeze tool. Not sure where I will end up on this - - the cheapest I have seen is around $125 which seems a lot if I only need this once. Are there a bunch of other applications for rivets? If so I could rationalized buying one .

thanks again,
Reggie

[Richard M.]

Re: 59 front bracket rivet

Reggie, Yes there are other rivets you may need, but the tool I showed at the end of my post may suffice. You need 2 people for that one. One holds the backer bar against the rivet head while the other hits the end. I usually use a even heavier bar as a backer.

I use a special homemade setting tool bit in my air hammer. I cut a old worn out air hammer chisel and ground a bevel in the end using a Dremel. You can buy them made that way for the air hammers. Like shown on this one on Ebay....


They make some with angled shafts for tight spots too...


When using the air hammer though, use much caution around the fiberglass. Also note the you typically have to cut some of the rivet off before setting it' I usually leave about 3/16" when I set them.

Rich

[Michael A.]

Re: 59 front bracket rivet

The tool that I would use to install the rivets would be a Tatco Rivet Squeezer. It is easy to use and will not put any stress on the fiberglass. I have multiple heads for mine, so I can reach different depths.

[R K.]

Re: 59 front bracket rivet

Again thanks for the replies.

I have hammered rivets before on other projects but am concerned about stressing the fiberglass (also my aim with a hammer). Most of my friends who have interests in cars still work so help is available mostly on week ends only. No way I can talk my wife into holding the backer bar and her aim is way worse than mine. So - - the tool shown above may be the way for me to go. I have seen them (other brands) but they list 3/16 as their max rivet size and sometimes the max advertised size really can't be done. Michael - - have you used that tool on a 3/16 solid aluminum rivet? I would hate to spend the money only to find out it wouldn't work.

The air hammer option is an easy one since I already have an old air hammer and bits but I would only use this where I am comfortable that I won't mess up.

In addition to the 59 I have 69 in need of restoration so I am getting a sense that rivets are in my future.

Reggie

[Donald H.]

Re: 59 front bracket rivet

I used an air hammer similar to Rich's. I bought it at Harbor Freight and it was special purpose for rivets, not just an air hammer. It came with the multiple rivet setting heads. I no longer see it in their catalog.

If you do end up using an air hammer, be sure to set the air pressure very low. I only use 18 to 20 pounds and that is more than enough to set the aluminum rivets. I have probably done close to a hundred aluminum rivets and yet to crack the fiberglass. I did multiple rivets on my 1960 restoration project, and have done quite a few on my in progress 1966 restoration.

There are a number of rivets that you simply can not do with a squeezer. Under body brackets and firewall brackets that can all be easily removed, restored, then re-riveted. I would like to also have the squeezer, but I believe for doing most of the body rivets on a restoration the air hammer rivet gun with the correct tips (these are also for sale separately on Ebay), and something to buck the rivet with, is much more useful than a squeezer. However for the areas where you can use the squeezer, they are great.

There are always a number of the used rivet air hammers on Ebay for sale. I believe my Harbor Freight one is a 3X hammer and I see 2X and 4X hammers on Ebay that are listed as rivet hammers.

[Michael A.]

Re: 59 front bracket rivet

I agree with Don on the need for a rivet gun for some locations, but I was commenting on the brackets Reggie was asking about. I've seen a lot of people mess up some good aircraft skins, because the had difficulty using a pneumatic rivet gun. There is always room in a man tool box for multiple tools that can do the same job in different ways. I have both a pneumatic rivet gun and a quality hand rivet squeezer. The hand rivet squeezer is easy to use and will provide very uniform upset rivets.

Multiple heads allow me to reach rivets as far as 6" from the edge. The various dies available for the rivet squeezer allows me to squeeze a variety of rivet heads.

Most of the aluminum rivets on a Corvette are soft, so I can easily hand squeeze 1/4" diameter soft aluminum rivets.