Hot Rods King Bees

I just purchased a pair of replacement King Bee tabs for the 409 A Coupe. Any suggestions on squishing those teeny rivets in while the headlights are on the car? The holes are there but the tabs left years ago.

 

C-clamp or tiny screws with nuts.

 

I replaces the tags on 682 J's but I have no idea how the guy squished the rivets. I have new tags for my current project plus I'm removing the tags from my matching fog lights for paint. I bought mine from Swillco Speed Shop and had him send extra rivets. Maybe call him for a suggestion.

 

Flat head rivet or round head rivet. I bucked thousands of rivets on Boeing 727 airplanes in 1966 on the window panel sections in the Renton Plant.

It looks like round head and this video can explain it a lot better than I can

The drivers will be like these and a dolly could be used for the bucking bar.
AN470 Rivet Set Kit - 5 Pieces, including 1-inch Flush Rivet Set

 

Why can’t you take the headlights off to make the job easier?

 

I like the C clamp idea mentioned above.

 

King Bee Headlight Tabs

I bought some replacement tabs for my King Bee headlights. [Swillco Speed Shop] The originals disappeared years ago. I had soldered up the 1/16th holes back then when I painted them GM Midnight Blue. The new Hollow rivets are Tiny. (Pat Ganahl admitted he has ‘em on his Deuce).



After I unsoldered the lead out of the holes, I needed some way to buck the rivets while the headlight bodies were still on the car.

My first attempt was to glue a ball bearing onto a C-Clamp (as was suggested here). It was successful but my clumsiness & overtightening flattened the rivets and tab a little too much. (Note that I don’t test things first, duh.) It also buckled the paint just a smidge which the tape pulled off a spot.




I was thinking before I butchered the other one, what would Dad do? Ah Ha!

Make another tool out of a Vice-grip! He had so many. You can make anything out of one.

First, I got a volunteer from the burned-up pile, drilled a divot in the jaw, and brazed a ball bearing on. Remember this is microscopic work for me.



Time to try it out.



(Inside Lousy picture). This time I squeezed very lightly, perfect! (Grip to Right).


Just like the factory.



I went back and straightened the first one and touched up the paint so only I know about it!

 

Would a pop rivet work?

 

Yes, it would and it would look hillbilly as ****. I soldered mine on one I just did. Worked great and no distortion at all

 

I used the rivets they gave me due to the tiny size and for the authenticity. The smallest pop-rivets are way too big anyway. That is an 1/8" pop-rivet! The rivets are.060 inch.

 

Could use a pop rivet and then something like this.
https://www.tec-n-tec.com/US/P566-a...00pqYizMH9syyWJ-WDTqbCEYU4ZEonEu5vJISl_L4Njjk

 

I made a press from a small c-clamp. I shaped the anvil side of the clamp into a shallow dome with a dimple the same size as the rivet head. This prevents the clamp from touching the light housing. The threaded shaft has the flat clamp head removed and I shaped it into a small rounded pin to roll the wall of the rivet properly. It worked perfectly as you can see the roll over on the practice piece. These rivets are the tiny ones that are just like the originals. Swillco Speed Shop sell them along with the tags. That's a 3 inch C clamp.