Technical Yeah, Its got a Hemi/41 shop truck

Ahh the magic word...proper...there are so many variables in what causes damage to heads...we actually used plastic stick on discs on runs in commercial Jets. It also gave a bit of protection to the surrounding surface if 90° was a little off...

Agreed it is an Art...

Rivet Hardness, Length, the Varied tool Quality, the Bucker, Shooter and geometry of the Snaps all add to what goes on with the Head...even the Rivet Gun itself matters...

Some snaps rest very close to the surface leaving very little wiggle room...

Despite the flats on the heads they do appear seated...

@Bandit Billy what type of rivet were they 'A' or 'AD'...I'm suspecting 'A'...depending on the hardness of your panel/structure AD may not even be applicable...

Sorry for going Airplane on you but you said rivet...

 

Turns out the handle I have is a truck handle for a 41, confirmed by part numbers on the back, it just appears to have been shortened at some point and rather well as I didn't notice it!

Oh snap, I did it backward? I held the bar to the head and used the tool shown above with a 3/16 concave to hammer the tail. Your saying I should have hammered the head and bucked the tail. That's what I get for not asking questions. Lucky I bought 100 of them, looks like I will be drilling those out and doing them anew! I was worried I wouldn't have enough projects this weekend.

And no disrespect taken! I did it backasswards! Thanks for catching it so I can fix it. Glad I didn't get to the bed rivets yet! Those are mild steel but I would have messed that up too and they would have been harder to fix. Keep calling me on stuff, I don't mind. By the time I'm 90 I'll be dangerously good at this!

 

Be careful if IF you replace them as you can enlarge the original holes and that could make things worse...

If things are tight and panels are tight with no gaps I would just leave them...Rivets are quite effective even if the are not perfectly formed...

After a light sanding and paint they will be fine and barely noticable if you can even see them...

Or

3/16" Rivet...holesize #11

Trick is to drill a 1/8" hole as close to center just deep enough to penetrate just a smidge below the depth of the Head then use a slightly undersize drill #12 and repeat centered to the head once drilled to depth of first pass try tipping the drill left to right and if you have the depth in a good place the head should snap off..you can then use a 20 drill and drill into the remaining rivet and drill at 90° approximately 2/3rds into remaining rivet but not through...back up other side with your bar right alongside the rivet your removing and use a straight not tapered #30 or #20 pin punch to tap it out...it should not require major bashing to get it out if you're on with your drilling...

You may want the Wifey to back up while you punch it out...and make sure the bar is flat to surface...

You can actually take a 5 to 6" long 2×4 or 2x2 drill a hole in a cleanly cut end just a smidge bigger than the bucked shop head and use that instead of a bar and punch it out into it...
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It will work better if you have one person to run the rivet gun and another to buck the rivets, that way you can control the rivet gun and keep from losing contact with the rivet head and marking the rivet head or slipping off the rivet head and putting a smiley on the panel! If you choose to drill out the rivets, center punch the head and just drill until you go thru the depth of the rivet head and punch out the remainder of the rivet.

 

Yes deciding on one operator riveting is a fine line and whether 1 or 2 a slip off can be very bad news...

Again, I think I'd leave them if things are tight and barely seen...as it is not an aircraft...and rivets again perform well even with imperfections...

The other thing to do @Bandit Billy is take some test pieces and toss them in the vise and do some test rivets and remove and replace...to experience the experience...'F' the test pieces...no bigs

Alot of this is like all that for six rivets...but it is the same whether there's many or few...

 

I spent a lot of years in aircraft maintenance as did my son. My years were mostly in the machine shop, but I was around enough rivet work that I can tell you that the risk of a miscue in trying to properly center up on the round head of a rivet well enough to hit the dead center of the rivet's shank where it enters the the hole it's in is very high.
And if you miss that center, and have to enlarge the hole for the next size larger rivet, it's gonna look a lot worse than a tiny flat on the rivets head.

 

It's like everything in this hobby and it makes me think about these builders of which there are so many here...it is A to Z. So many professions are being tapped and each has their own Mile to walk...

I truly enjoy the Art of Riveting...

This is the fender on the Ole Hotrod and these rivets have had a similar install...wouldn't fly on an aircraft but I noted it as this is my training...I left them and they have and continue to perform just fine...



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It takes practice, but I can drill out rivets with no issues. Double drilled holes or figure 8's happen to the best of them though. Sorry to hijack your great build thread Billy.

 

...me too...but you said rivet Billy...

Learning on a Test piece is your best friend...

 

You guys slay me! So I found a free evening and drilled out the 8 rivets that hold the hoop to the shroud and may I say, what a pain in the arse! I drilled 'em and then I used a cut off wheel to shave them down and finally a punch to knock em out. A bit of straitening was required and some liquid refreshments as it was a warm evening.

On the corners, I left em. I had only done 2 of the 4 corners so I designated the new rivet side the top and the flat ones will be down below where only a cat will se them...and likely only for a brief moment.

The gap between the hoop and the shroud are tighter no on top as a result of flipping everything over and re-re-re-doing it. Much more roundier (spell check said that was a word, huh). My powdercoat guy has a light textured "wrinkle" finish that I plan to use on this piece, after which I plan to use a black seam sealer around the hoop to eliminate the small air gap

Much more better. Thanks guys!

 

Badda Boom Budda Bing...Fire in the Hole... @Bandit Billy...proud of you...

One more future riveting tip to you and anyone undertaking this noisy challenge...secure/anchor the item so you free your hands and concentrate your effort on Shooting and Bucking without the item moving potentially causing a disaster...

 

Excellent call. You need three hands to hold the piece, the buck and the gun. Most of us only have two which can present an issue. I ended up securing the buck with vice grips. This freeing up the other two hands but it weren't easy

 

Sole versus Team Riveting is a personal choice and varies by individual operators. I am overly cautious for good reason...especially when I'm juggling all the variables involved...

Now that you have had a successful taste of that perhaps there may be a riveted Gauge Panel or a riveted aluminum battery box to carry a tinge of period aviation into your build now that you have experienced it......heck I should make one for myself...

 

I have learned enough that I intend to employ a rivet backer when I finish the bed. I have physical limitations... But a well stocked bar. Thus I can accomplish many things!

 

If you pay attention when riveting the sound changes when the rivet pulls tight!

 

Fact! And I am still monkeying around with the variable air knob on the impact. I started with it very low and it didn't really do anything and increased air until I got a good rivet. On a scrap piece I turned it up too far and it did some damage. I hope to practice a bit more before I turn my attention to the bed.

 

Well, it has been a bit whilst waiting for the rear rollers to make an appearance, but thanks to WheelSmith this is the result.

I had to cut up a pair of wheels to get the correct centers with vents and send them to the WheelSmith to weld in a new set of 7" hoops with 2.25" BS to fit this narrow axle and show off the deep wheels. Tires are DB Auburn 820's in back, 560's up front. Visible in the picture above is a 1" spacer on the lift arm that I had to use on the Olds wheels, plus another 3/8's spacer just to get them to stop rubbing the bed on the inside. Bye, bye spacers.

The wheel issue and cure can be found here
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/chrome-reverse-help-needed.1204348/

Now, let's take it apart and make it shiny!

 

Go man go!

 

I'd have to say that exercise was well worth the end result. Nice job getting the Tire centered in the Fender opening. Well done!

 

Curious to see what you think of those tires. Excelsiors have the right profile and perform great but the tread pattern just has nothing on a Firestone.

If these new Auburns can perform well they would be a fantastic option.

 

Looking good there Billy, you have bult a fine truck.

 

I'm workin 'ere!

That was a lot of measuring, truly a custom fit.

We won't have to wait too long to find out. I drove my roadster to an event on the freeway a month or two back and at 65 I thought it was going to come apart. At 75 it was smooth again. Damn Coker tires are just not round! As an added bonus, and just to make sure I never let anyone spend money at Coker again, Bill at DB sent me a new pair of BW's for the front end of the 34. I got them today and they will be mounted tomorrow, then some serious road testing is planned for next week. I will let you know how they ride and perform. 25" tall, fine looking tire for a fender-less car.

Thank you. It will be much better with some shiny black paint though! Truthfully, what wouldn't be?

 

They look so fat before they get squeezed into a skinny hot rod wheel haha.

let us know how it goes!

 

Nice!

 

This is the Coker tire that I had on my roadster that is mostly round...ish. You know those square tires on cars north of the border in South Park cartoons?

Yeah, those are coker tires.

I replaced them with the same Auburn tires on the truck sans white wall.

Prior to installing the car had a wicked vibration nearing 60 that faded at 70. Yesterday I ran it to 80 with absolutely no shimmy, shake or silliness of any kind. And they look better with a bit wider tread area and great tread design. I leaned into some good corners yesterday and these tires were awesome! I didn't drive it enough to remove the green stripe evidently though.

I know radials are not traditional but if you have to go there and even on a fenderless car, these are well worth the price of admission. And they even come round! My favorite tire shape.

 

Looks much better! Glad they are ridding good!

what size tire/ wheel out of curiosity?

edit: I see the new ones are a 5:50/15

 

Yep 560's on 15X5 wheels.

 

Put them on the back and a couple burnouts should take care of that.
Oh, that's right, you don't have a SBC, nevermind!

 

I have never considered the mouse to be the go-to tire truer. For that it is my 442 and a line-loc burn-out on the Broadway bridge's steel grate. It rains rubber bits into the Willamette and there is no noise to alert Johnny Law.

 

Do they make them in a 5.00x16 size ?

Just curious, I love my Excelcior radials.