C3 Rivet Identification

[Sheldon S.]

I have been going through the AIM and have found there are quite a few different rivets used. On the car there only appears to be a few different ones just by looking at them. I have made a list of some that I have found and was wondering if anyone has descriptions and sizes of these.

3828472
3829908
3829910
3828470
3828548
3828549
3828550
3831877
9418482
9409245
9418482
9428379
9409248
I am sure there are more but these appear to be most of the most common ones used for attaching brackests to the body. Thanks for any info provided.
Sheldon Sands

[Joe L.]

Re: C3 Rivet Identification

I have been going through the AIM and have found there are quite a few different rivets used. On the car there only appears to be a few different ones just by looking at them. I have made a list of some that I have found and was wondering if anyone has descriptions and sizes of these.

3828472
3829908
3829910
3828470
3828548= 7/16"
3828549= 9/16"
3828550= 5/8"
3831877= 1/2"
9418482
9409245
9418482= 5/18"
9428379
9409248
I am sure there are more but these appear to be most of the most common ones used for attaching brackests to the body. Thanks for any info provided.
Sheldon Sands

Sheldon------


I have info on a few of them as specified above. I strongly suspect that the difference with most or all of the rest of them is length. Different applications required different grip lengths due to the various materials being clamped by the rivet. In PRODUCTION it was important that the exact length rivet was used for each application as the last thing that GM wanted was to have assemblers take extra time to trim rivets. In SERVICE, one can just use the longest length rivet and trim it for the particular application.

[Alan S.]

Re: C3 Rivet Identification

Hi Sheldon,
When I was restoring my 71 I tried to identify the rivets in the 71 AIM, too.
I came up with 5 variations of the typical flat head rivets (the same that Joe identified). I also found 9 of what I called 'other' rivets, like 455624 'oval head' 3/16" x 1/2". UPC1 Sheet A16 Item 7, and 455626 'oval head' 3/16" x 9/16" UPC1 Sheet B8 Item 3.
I also found 10 different part numbers for pop type rivets.
I then decided to stop trying to identify the rivets and go back to working on the car!
I do have a list of all the rivets I found and where (UPC/Sheet/Item) I found them in the AIM for the first time. (If you're interested).
Regards,
Alan

[Steve L.]

Re: C3 Rivet Identification

I went through over 100 rivets from Dr R. (page 95) shows some rivet gm numbers and lengths. I restorted to measuring the length of the assy by marking an untouched rivet with a exacto knife then cutting, I think it was 1/8inch longer. I eventually made a sheet metal fixture to hold a half dozen rivets and shims of different thickness to give me the length I needed. Then used a band saw to cut all of them in one shot.

Riveting takes time and is a two person job. I put a small amount of windshield glop under the head to seal it up somewhat. Aluminum against steel is a big no-no for corrosion. A lot of my rivets where white powder because of this. This and unpainted or black phosphate parts -what were those inginears thinking.

[Terry M.]

Re: C3 Rivet Identification

I went through over 100 rivets from Dr R. (page 95) shows some rivet gm numbers and lengths. I restorted to measuring the length of the assy by marking an untouched rivet with a exacto knife then cutting, I think it was 1/8inch longer. I eventually made a sheet metal fixture to hold a half dozen rivets and shims of different thickness to give me the length I needed. Then used a band saw to cut all of them in one shot.

Riveting takes time and is a two person job. I put a small amount of windshield glop under the head to seal it up somewhat. Aluminum against steel is a big no-no for corrosion. A lot of my rivets where white powder because of this. This and unpainted or black phosphate parts -what were those inginears thinking.

It is pretty clear to all of us that they weren't think of us keeping the cars 30, 40 & 50 years. On the other hand I can assure you that, within cost and weight constraints, today's Corvette engineers ARE thinking of someone (won't be me) keeping the cars they are building that long. Come to the Regional Meet in Florida and talk to those engineers.