I know its a basic question.. but what type / size of rivets do I ask for from suppliers?

I think it is blind rivets .. I take it these are ones that do not have a whole all the way through?

Cheers

I'm prepared to be shot down in flames but I think you'll find that the 'blind' refers to the ability to fix the rivet from one side. With a conventional rivet you need access to both sides to fit it.

'Break head' and 'Break stem' tell you where the mandrel breaks and 'Captive' indicates that it does not fall out of the rivet after installation.

A rivet is referred to as blind when you cannot get to the back of it to form the rivet (does that make sense?), so a blind rivet has a stem that pull's through the rivet to form the tail. Like normal rivets you will have to drill through both bits.

For the right size's you need to work out how thick you material is, so if your using 18swg ali with 16swg steel you would have a thickness of 2.8mm (I think) plus another amount to allow the rivet to form (I generally use 5mm) So you need a rivet about 7mm from the base of the head to the end of the tail. This will all change if you use countersunk rivets though.

As for the diameter of the rivet, its down to you really. If you want you can stick the panels on with 3.2mm rivets, this gives you the option of increasing the rivets size up to 4.1mm if you bugger up.

A Zues table is invaluable for this sort of work, gives you rivet dimentions, hole depths and Bend allowances for bending sheet metal.

Something like this from Screwfix (no connection ) should do the trick 4mm dia and 10mm long, give you a bit of play

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=15725&ts=01209

Then again I could be talking bollocks

[Edited on 10/10/03 by flyingkiwi]

thanks chaps that helps me too. i can get a rivet gun from homebase i guess, but thats pretty cheap!

pop rivet's are ok, but I have found that if they're not formed well they can start to pull out very quickly, especially if the panel vibrates a lot. which make removing them rather hard. If you dip the rivet in a bit of araldite before setting it, it help's when you go to drill them out.

It would be interesting to know what problems people with built car's have had with loose or working rivets? Any comments anyone?

Swing by the local airport and have a chat with the mechanic on duty. Cherry brand rivets are some of the best made, and the one you want will be blind, mandrel retained (or captive mandrel), and they can be gotten in a style that is closed even if the mandrel works loose.

You need the mandrel to be retained because it greatly increases the shear strength of the rivet.

A retained mandrel is not sealed, you need the cosed version if you want it sealed.

[Edited on 10/10/03 by The Shootist]

Cherrymax rivets are ok if you have the pnumatic gun to set them with, to do it by hand will probably write off your pliers and give you one hell of a sore arm, but your right, they are poo hot and usually once they are in their in. I can get them from work if anyone is interested in trying a couple, not sure if normal pop pliers can handle them though