Rivet snaps (being produced)
 

Hey folks, this may interest any carrier restorers out there or anyone else faced with the task of riveting a project.

I have been able to find a chap to produce the correct shape snaps for re riveting carriers.

I have recently re riveted my own carrier and the finish has turned out nice, so I thought I would share.


The snap sets consist of three snaps machined from high carbon steel which is then aged in a furnace to harden them further. The three snaps are 3/8 Liverpool truss (the flat faces which are on the outside of the armour) 3/8 button head, and the slightly smaller button head for the rivets located on the central bulkhead.

The set costs £130 for the three, or they can be produced on an individual basis for £50 / snap.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...unnersside.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ideriveted.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ps222ac350.jpg

http://youtu.be/NKBXa9PaSZM

Cheers

Richie

:thup2:Richard, outstanding!
I watched your YouTube video of the rivetting process that you used.
Glad to see when a restorer "does it right", no cheating with cheesy carriage bolt wannabes and the like that most guys use.
It appears that your carrier utilizes more "re-manufacture" than "replica" techniques. Doing it correctly, to proper specs and dimensions and it would be difficult to tell the difference from original. :cheers:

Thank you Chris, it's always nice to know when you have done something right. I would encourage anyone to rivet rather than coach bolt the job... I nearly chickened out of doing the job but was Pursuaded to give it a go by Shaun Hindle, and I am glad I did !

I am happy to undertake the work for people at a cost of course, alternate they could send their stripped hulls to me for the work.

However buying the snaps would be easier and cheaper for them. Included with the snaps would be the correct setting allowances for the rivets matched to each snap, that is one of the important bits to know (and heat of course)

Last chance before W&P folks (as I can bring them with me)

Richard, I will need to rivet a new drivers side armour on mine. But I don' tknow what "Snaps" are in this context. The buck bar? The part on the impact hammer?

its the part that goes into the hammer and forms the head onto the outside. the bucking bar / block is what is placed onto the inside and prevent the rivet slipping whilst being formed.

the snap is the forming end of the job :)

here are some old pics of my first snap prior to it being hardened (they are a black / blue colour after this process)

I have set around 400 rivets with my first snap and its still going strong, some on my project and some on other bits and bobs.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...t/IMG_0468.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...t/IMG_0469.jpg

the tool shown is machined for guns with 3/8 shank tools.

Richard, I just saw the video... That bit of work is exactly what I need to do on my carrier. I won't be ready to do it until winter, but I would like to order the snap for those size rivits. I don't own an air hammer - yet- but have the air supply ( 80 gal tank)

Can you recommend an air hammer?

Also, what is the rivit size to order? I imagine I should find someone here int he US for them, but with the old sayising of " don't mess with what works" I might order enough rivits from your source to do the job with some practice rounds too.

It looks like a pretty straight forward job... and best done in the winter I'm thinking!

Pitty I can't make W&P this year! Have to have some sit down time with a few beers/ciders included!

Cheers,
Jim

Richard, am I right that they are 1/2" rivets with 5/8" heads? If you hear of any carriers for sale in resto condition let me know mate. Cheers

No they are 3/8 rivets 16mm heads. Jim I will drop you a line with the details mate

Jim my gun is a 3/8 shank aero riveter x4 by ingersol rand. It's pretty small but does the job

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...t/IMG_0442.jpg

The rivets came from sapphire products based in Birmingham.

Richard, that is a small gun. Mine has a 1 1/16" dia. piston x 5" stroke (not a 100% sure about the length of the stroke)
But quite a difference between the gun sizes.
Paul, there are smaller rivets of different sizes, but 95% of them are 3/8" in various lengths. Basically the rivet need 1 1/2 times it's dia. to form a head on a flat surface, and nearly twice the diameter (of rivet sticking through, out the other side) to form a rounded head into a countersunk hole. This means when you buy them they want to be in the area of 20mm longer than the thickness you intend to rivet. The point is, Don't buy them too short. (You'll need a carrier first)

found this on ebay - will it work?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/400512126007...84.m1497.l2649

400512126007

I would go for the biggest of them Jim

THats fine mate, was just something i read in another thread, probably a completely different vehicle tho. I tend to keep snippets of useless info in my grey matter and spurt them out when I think I know what I am talking about.....which isnt often....!!!! :doh:

I have actually rivetted before, many years ago. Copper (nice n soft!) and brass, by hand. Two hammers, one in the vice and the Ball (Ball Pein Hammer) on the other side to kneal the edges over into a dome and dress it smooth. Quite a satisfying task! Still use it now to repair tools etc that need a rivet to secure.

That is the hammer i used for the job and it worked very well... bigger hammer would have been easier, but its very achievable with the one i had. if you are countersinking the plate Jim i used a 45deg maystag countersink bit, and created a cut into the plate with a diameter of 16mm. the setting allowance for my snap for the armour from memory was around 13mm. This is the length poking through when the rivet is seated. so for example on my carrier the side armour rivets i need to consider 5mm for the frame rail, 8mm for the armour and 13mm for the setting allowance, so the dimension for rivets for the side would be no less than 3/8 x 26mm (button head) i ordered them longer then made a collet on my lathe to the correct setting length, then turned some rivets down in areas where the countersink was not quite as deep etc.... I could chat on for ages mainly because i am a sad sack... but partly because the thought of rivetting a project for the first time is very daunting for folk to want to undertake..... having done the job i can advocate everyone to try it !!!!!