Long time visitor to the HAMB, recent member. I'm building a Model A pickup. I found an original box that needed some TLC, rust in the typical areas. I disassembled it to make those repairs and decided to shorten it in the process. The pieces are ready to go back together and I would like to use rivets to match what Ford used. What's the best source for these rivets? How do you get the round head on both sides? I've done riveting with a pneumatic rivet gun and the "shop head" comes out flat instead of round. Any help would be appreciated.
bct beat me to it on recommending Big Flats. You might also try (660) 263-7444, http://www.mack-products.com. They specialize in trucks and might have some other parts you are interested in. Charlie Stephens
Round head rivets are set with a concave driver that is sized & shaped for the head. A flat bucking bar will obviously give a flat shop head. The bucking bar would need a concave face similar to the driver to form a round head on the driven side. It will take a some trial and error to get the rivet length cut so there is enough rivet extended through the metal to give a perfect round head. It might take some playing on which side to drive with a double round rivet. Lessons learned with driving 100's of large round head aluminum rivets. The metal layers have to be tight to the rivet head with the driver tight on the rivet head with the bucking bar barely touching the rivet. Give it a quick bump with the driver so the rivet expands just enough to keep the layers & head tight. The bucking bar can then to be put hard against the rivet for a good final set. If the bucking bar is put hard against the rivet for the first hit then the rivet can push out with the back pressure or it can swell between the layers for a poor set either way. If a rivet messes up it is not a problem. Center punch the head and drill through the head & well into the rivet with a bit that is a bit smaller than the rivet shaft. Then take a larger bit and slowly drill so it will cut the head off. Center punch the rivet out of the hole.
I used a concave rivet driver in my impact gun. I bucked them from behind with a tool I made by drilling the head of a large bolt to make an indent for the rivet head, this was threaded into a piece of pipe with a nut welded on the end. I secured the bucking bar in place by adjusting the bolt in the nut, and shimming it until it was tight. I then used my mig welder and with minimal wire feed I welded on the end of the rivet, to heat it up and mushroom it. I made sure I welded straight down on the rivet so it mushroomed straight down. I had to keep turning the bed and adjusting it, so I could weld straight down. I then immediately used the rivet driver set real slow and hit it 2-3 times, which finished mushrooming the rivet and tightened it in the hole. Kind of hard to explain, but it worked great. Most of the rivets look original and only a very few didn't get a good round shape. Here's a couple of pictures of the finished stake pockets, and front panel.
There is a few tips in my thread https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...d-a-update-sept-8.995566/page-5#post-12135286 I rounded a drill bit to the same dome as the rivit and made my own bucking bar. The link is to page 5 but the rivets are on page 4 FYI.
The Jalopy Journal
