Factory VIN Rivets
- Thread starter RIX260
- Start date
- Messages
- 2,968
Gosh, I'm gonna go to old guy prison for hundreds of years !!
- Messages
- 334
Back in the day, rules & regs were not as stringent as they are today. Body shops back then thought nothing of removing VIN tags to paint a car and then forget what they did with them. Cars have been stored in barns, garages, in fields and other places for years, sometimes decades without a VIN tag but with the identifying VIN on the title. As these cars are discovered and sold as projects, some restorers look to replace the VIN tag with one close to the original.
Rick
- Messages
- 1,942
I've bought the blind rivets at Fastenal. You have to buy a full box is the hitch.
Warren
Gold forum user
- Messages
- 3,872
Here is a fun story.....
A long time member came up to Woodley Park . Matt from San Pedro, he was involved with Herb Mosley the shop notes guru. The two owner car was painted and the tag was removed and lost many years ago when I got there. Matt asked me to help out and pull all the parts that belonged with the car and pile them up which I did. I had also told Mike N. in Escondido about the car and he told a Shelby guy Craig who came up to see the car then left offering 5000 less without the tag. Matt said get rid of the Alpine stuff and all those old Tiger Tales before I toss them in the trash. He was frustrated at the loss some 25 years ago and said I have turned everything inside out. I was walking to the trash can thinking I already had Chuck Daly's Tiger Tales collection but stopped on the way in a nice shady spot and said to myself I'll look thru the early ones. As I grabbed each one I shook them by the stapled edge and 1/2 way thru out dropped the tag
Matt had retired to the house and I got him and said I'm not leaving until the tag is re attached. He did not care that we used some Ace Hardware store rivets. Craig came back bought the car the next week and took it to the nicest Shelby shop in Escondido that also sells superchargers.
Then there's another story of a guys shop burning down with the car outside and the tags inside. Body shops loosing the tags. As well as Calif. law enforcement removing a MK2 tag that a owner moved off the scuttle destroyed the original tag and applied 2 non removable Cali blue I.D.
Only ask me in person how I learned these couple examples of why you should not remove a tag. I have a few others. Matt was also instrumental in the recovery of a stolen car to the rightful owner but that's another story...
A long time member came up to Woodley Park . Matt from San Pedro, he was involved with Herb Mosley the shop notes guru. The two owner car was painted and the tag was removed and lost many years ago when I got there. Matt asked me to help out and pull all the parts that belonged with the car and pile them up which I did. I had also told Mike N. in Escondido about the car and he told a Shelby guy Craig who came up to see the car then left offering 5000 less without the tag. Matt said get rid of the Alpine stuff and all those old Tiger Tales before I toss them in the trash. He was frustrated at the loss some 25 years ago and said I have turned everything inside out. I was walking to the trash can thinking I already had Chuck Daly's Tiger Tales collection but stopped on the way in a nice shady spot and said to myself I'll look thru the early ones. As I grabbed each one I shook them by the stapled edge and 1/2 way thru out dropped the tag
Matt had retired to the house and I got him and said I'm not leaving until the tag is re attached. He did not care that we used some Ace Hardware store rivets. Craig came back bought the car the next week and took it to the nicest Shelby shop in Escondido that also sells superchargers. Then there's another story of a guys shop burning down with the car outside and the tags inside. Body shops loosing the tags. As well as Calif. law enforcement removing a MK2 tag that a owner moved off the scuttle destroyed the original tag and applied 2 non removable Cali blue I.D.
Only ask me in person how I learned these couple examples of why you should not remove a tag. I have a few others. Matt was also instrumental in the recovery of a stolen car to the rightful owner but that's another story...
Proper early MKI style?
Have the part number?
My sister buys pop rivets for her sheet metal business literally by the million and if I have the proper PN I would have no problem in obtaining a lifetime supply for us all.
BTW the cretin at the body shop removed mine, and up until a few days ago they seemed to be lost. If I only had the proper rivets all would be good.
- Messages
- 334
When I took my Tiger to the body shop I put a piece of bright green frog tape over the VIN tag and wrote "DO NOT REMOVE THIS TAG" on it. Hopefully the guy who eventually paints it can read and understand English.
Rick
- Messages
- 334
After several conversations and exchange of pictures, I was able to get some blind rivets from HANSON RIVET & SUPPLY CO. in Pacoima, CA. www.hansonrivet.com. They are described as "Aluminum Blind Rivet with Aluminum Mandrel, Dome Head, 1/8 x .031 - .062 Grip". Pictures attached.
Rick
- Messages
- 256
You'll have to show a picture of rivet once attached I need to attach my repro spec plate, when I had car painted
back in 83 they painted over everything original spec plate didn't make it.
- Messages
- 2,968
Rick, the actual OEM rivet uses a thinner steel pin and has a raised ring around the center.
- Messages
- 334
Thanks Randy. Is the raised ring a head design or was it created by a special rivet tool when installed at the factory?
Rick
- Messages
- 2,968
I suppose it would be possible for a tool to compress the outer perimeter during install but I would have to see it happen and examine the tool's impact face. just sayin'
Austin Healer
Gold forum user
- Messages
- 1,629
exceptions may include "when necessary for repair" I just had my car "dipped" to remove all paint, filler and undercoat. had I not removed the chassis plate, it would have been dissolved... as was every aluminum rivet that I failed to remove from the shell, including the aluminum threaded nutserts for the radiator shroud.
- Messages
- 1,942
The tanks at the local dipper in Cincinnati react really bad when it comes to aluminum. They had a situation where they dipped a large old Lincoln body with no one knowing there were some aluminum panels under the paint. The solution in the tank took quite a hit.
Austin Healer
Gold forum user
- Messages
- 1,629
bet the car did as well... like I said, all of the aluminum rivets that I left on the car were completely dissolved. I remember when I was a kid, someone put pistons in an engine hot tank solution in auto shop... ended up with some very pretty connecting rods...and nothing else.
Austin Healer
Gold forum user
- Messages
- 1,629
part and parcel of using the rivet gun to install the rivet... not rocket science. I have a supply of the original type blind rivets and have used them on several projects..