I tried to get a responce earlier about this but never got one. I amd replacing the glass tracks in my 54 and am curious if any one has used pop rivets instead of the smash ones that came with the kit. I have a rivet gun of course but not the proper tools to smash the supplied ones. Any help would be greatly appreciated.




Wayne

 

This is not the response you are looking for but, I took one look at all that rivet mess and saw how tight the new strip fit in the door and said "the heck with this"-I put some glue on the back of mine and rolled the window up tight overnight. No problems so far.

 

for what it is worth,,, i used dennis carpenter kits on doors,everything, felts divanti rattterlers, ect, and the clips in the top of the felt stuck out, and where installed by carpenters, and i did install it correctly, and chiped the top of the windows, new windows, probably crack in awhile, did'nt think to look or feel inside felts when in door,cranked em up with a smile , works like new, rolled down and,,,,,,saw the chips.....on top of the window,,,,,so i would make sure those clips where very well recessed or put some rubber glued over the top of them??i have to talk to dennis carpenter ,, garry

 

I have to admit I am a little confused over this.

I replaced all the trim parts in my 54 doors with parts from Mid_fifty Ford. I suppose the 'smash' rivets you mention are those clips that you press into the door.

On mine, I just pressed them in with my fingers, no problem.

The only difficulty I had was that the top piece seemed to be slightly too long, so I had to trim them a little. After adjusting the window alignment, they work very smoothly and don't leak air or water.
Winford

 

well guys the rivets that I am talking about is the ones that hold the mounting brackets on the bottom of the front window channel as well as the ones that hold the wing vent window rubber and stop. I am seriously considering the pop rivets but wish someone had some experience with it.

Wayne

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 15-May-01 AT 09:08 PM (EST)[/font][p]Garry,

That is scarry. I have a 57 and need to replace the trim. You are saying then that the part you purchased was assembled incorrectly by the manufacturer. I'm assuming that it was not a large error but one that chipped your glass. How did it compare to the original piece? Is this only a assembly problem or is the part not reproduced correctly?

Is it posible that the glass was not buffed out enough and had small imperfections that allowed it to chip?

Charles

 

Sounds like you are talking about the tubular rivets that secure the brackets to the divider bar. There is a small punch sort of tool that is used to upset the end of the rivet. Kinda rolls it over like a mushroom head with a hole in the middle. Works good, the original tools were pnuematic and hit the rivet hard and fast. They work great. If you're careful, the hand method will produce similar results. Mid-fifty should have the punch tool for a couple of bucks. Sacramento Vintage does have them, but I don't have my catalog with me right now so I don't know how much they want. Pop rivets would work, but the aluminum ones probably won't last long as aluminum will usually crack before brass under similar vibration loads. Steel rivets will rust away way too fast even if they don't get wet. Stainless might be a good choice. I know none of the poprivets I could get were the same diameter as the originals and the heads are different too. McMaster Carr has the right brass tubular rivets for something like $8 per 100 (minimum buy), that's where I got them.

everyone, drive your Ford now.

 

 

Craig,
Thanks for the info. That is exactly what i was talking about. I guess that I should use the the tubular kind but I will have to purchase the correct tool. Guess the price of the tool is better than having to do it all again if the pop rivets wear out or break. Thanks again.


Wayne