Anyone here buck their own Lower BJ rivets?

[Greg L.]

I know that there are are a few places that I can send them to for this but the shipping and customs fees just aren't worth it for a total of four points.

I figured out a "back yard" way to install the bushings without a hydraulic press and it worked quite good but I'm stumped on the rivets.

Has anyone bucked these lower balljoint rivets at home and if so, how did you do it?

Thanks in advance.

Greg

[Rob A.]

Re: Anyone here buck their own Lower BJ rivets?

Greg,

I used an actual rivet gun and quality bucking bars to do the rivets on my '67. The rivets are strong, so it was somewhat difficult. You really need a rivet set for the gun, with the proper curve of the rivet head, in order for it to look good when you're done. There's a guy here, in Huntington Beach, CA that has an hydraulic press for rotor rivets, etc.

[Greg L.]

Re: Anyone here buck their own Lower BJ rivets?

Thanks Rob,

I was wondering if a rivet gun would work or if I would have to use an air hammer or even an actual press. What size rivet gun did you use anyways?

I was going to rig up some sort of bucking bar with the proper indent to match the rivet head as you mentioned. With the head being against the ball joint I can hit the tail straight on with a flat snap so the end result should look original. How heavy a bucking bar did you have to use and how long do you figure it took set each rivet once you were all set up?

Thanks again,

Greg

[Rob A.]

Re: Anyone here buck their own Lower BJ rivets?

Greg,

I used a relatively inexpensive aircraft type rivet gun. It came in a kit that included various size and shaped bucking bars, which were pretty heavy. I've heard from those who say with the right shaped rivet set they have had good results with an air hammer. I can't really remember how long it took. When you're done, if you're not happy with the shape of the rivet on the side of the bucking bar, you can use the rivet gun to touch it up.

[Philip C.]

Long Island sells the tool

Long Island corvette sells the tool for the upper and lower ball joints rivets. I think its about $100.00 for both of them, this tool is the bucking bar part of the job, easy to do Phil 8063

[Harmon C.]

Re: Anyone here buck their own Lower BJ rivets?

Greg
I made some special tools that hold the rivet on the inside with a concave hole so the head shape is not changed. The tools clamp in my large vice to make a very solid place to hammer.I have piened them cold and hot and formed them with a rivet set tool. I can E-mail pics.

Lyle

[Dave K.]

Re: Anyone here buck their own Lower BJ rivets?

I had all four on my 66 conv. riveted by Bair's Corvette in Linesville, Pa. I believe that it cost me $25/joint (4 years ago). Bair's has some of the old tooling from the GM plants.

Dave K.

[Randy R.]

Re: Anyone here buck their own Lower BJ rivets?

I used an air chisel and heated the rivets to a dull red. I tried one rivet without heating but couldn't get the end upset sufficiently.

[Harmon C.]

Greg you have E-Mail *NM*