Technical I know absolutely nothing about rivets. Please advise me.

Below is a rear (1948 Ford panel truck) door hold-open mechanism. I have the other one but don't see any need for duplicate pix.

I'd like to get these chrome plated. The only way I can see for that to happen is if I drill the three rivets out of each one, have the rest chromed, and rivet them back together.

Is this feasible? If so what tools do I need to install similar rivets? Where do I get the rivets?

I'm assuming I'll have to do a better job of cleaning these up before sending for plating. I cleaned these in my blast cabinet. Do I need to fine sand them before sending to the plater? Something else?

Should I just paint them assembled with light coats sliding/turning the pieces between coats?

 

for a good job you will need to drill them out, and have the parts plated separately.
A chrome shop will always find more finishing work, even if you've basically polished the steel before taking them in.
The replacement rivet will not be chrome, and may look odd.
You could use small shoulder bolts to replace the rivets.

 

https://www.hansonrivet.com/

 

No one can see them. Why would you chrome plate them? I usually rattle can them but if you want something more esthetic, you could powder coat them. Chrome plating them is a waste of time and money, IMO.

 

I agree but it's like when you donate anonymously, no one will ever know. Unless you tell them.

 

You would need solid rivets, A air chisel with a bit to mushroom the rivet on a buck, probably find out how on YouTube. There are aluminum rivets that could be polished afterward, I would think.

 

No one can see them. Why would you chrome plate them? I usually rattle can them but if you want something more esthetic, you could powder coat them. Chrome plating them is a waste of time and money, IMO.


Ah, grasshopper. Not true. They are most prominently visible; thus why I want them to look good..

Here is a pic (not Clarence) that shows where they go and what they look like. Obviously they are disconnected from the doors.





Here's Clarence with the temporary cable hold open strap:

 

Do not use aluminum rivets. They will wear during use and fail.
Chrome plating these? I wish I had that much expendable income.

 

The cost, the effort, the end result would prevent me from removing the existing rivets and getting them chromed. I think they would look odd after reassembly as well. Aluminum rivets will not have the desired strength and steel will not jive with the chrome. It would be difficult to find the appropriate rivets needed that will operate as intended as well. I have a parts bin full of those type rivets, handed down from my Granddad and seldom use them.
My first choice would be body color paint and second would be black enamel, both being era correct. Not that it matters.

 

Some have mentioned aluminum rivets. I had never even considered them. I'm sure I agree that they wouldn't last.

 

My apologies. I thought they were window regulators!

 

Didn't even know of that style set up. There was a thread a few weeks ago about a front grille? It got brought up about coating and one member here talked about how he does it with some silver? Honestly looked real close and for the inside and what you want to do would be more cost effective.

 

Yeah, same lol

 

SS tube nuts or make your own Solid rivets out of SS Polish,,
look into Aviation/Aerospace

 

For the smaller ones, what about stainless rivets? McMaster Carr has dome head solid rivets in bags of 50 for less than $10.
With the right sized ball endmill you can make up a tool pretty easily and either hand hammer or use a shop press to squash it.

For the larger ones, you may be able to find stainless flathead rivets, or modify a carridge bolt (or the like) to look nice.

 

Here's what you want. They even have stainless...
Shoulder Rivets - Hanson Rivet & Supply Co,

 

That's great info. Buying lots of extras and the right equipment, and PRACTICE should produce nice hinges.

 

What about a rivet on one side and drill and tap it for a SS button head allen bolt on the other

 

The original rivets are higher strength steel rivets installed by as previously mentioned using a buck and a hydraulic rivet tool, riveted to a certain "draw" or tightness. Repeating that process could be done with a hydraulic press and anvil, taking care not to crack the chrome plating. Other options include a shoulder bolt and nut or a clevis pin and carter key.

 

Something like this but using chrome carriage bolts machined with smaller male/female threads so you could screw one into the other. Might want to check out marine hardware store as well as they use lots of unique chrome plated hardware.



I would not wanting to be hot riveting something after it is chrome plated. Makes me think of these guys. Lol!

l

 

No shame in my game. I've lost count how many parts I've had plated that were left assembled. You get a minor misplate where the rivet is. Who cares. The majority of parts like this are not meant to be scrupulously inspected even in show venues. Discuss it with your plater. Sometimes it simply doesn't matter. What have I done it on? 6-figure restorations that still netted perfect judging scores. Who else does that? The OEMs. Some things don't require such a deep dive into the should I pool.

Quick edit; I'd plate em fully extended so they look best when the door is open. Pretty dark back there when they're closed, right?

 

How about a hollow rivet? It gets set on the side that does not readily show. PEM also makes press-in threaded buttons that I have used many times. The holes have to be exact so they stay put.

Stainless rivets take more pressure over aluminum and may be prone to cracking if the tails are too long, you can use engineering tables to get the right "tail" length. Buy extra and make some test pieces.

 

Here is a video on hood hinge restoration, you might get some riveting ideas.

 

it's what a frog says

 

Personally I'd paint them body color and let them blend into the rest of the body. I prefer things that flow and look as one continuous piece.

Save the chrome for something else, as in accents, moldings etc.

...

 

Thanks for the link, that was very well done, good info for all hinge repair work. Bob

 

You CAN have them zinc plated without disassembly. That is probably how they were done orinally.

 

I like this idea too, but can't be sandblasted. Soda at most. A good polish with a soft wire brush but not too hard or fast. Sandblast takes CAD/zinc and makes it look like rattle can.

 

You are opening a can of worms if your dismantle your hinges as they will
probably never fit and operate properly upon reinstalling them.

 

Agreed, I have some tailgate arms for my '60 Elco that were chromed in one piece. I bought them years old but never used and you can BARELY tell that they were chromed together.