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What do I need for the vent window rivet

FightinTXag

FightinTXag

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I've had new vent window seals and latches sitting on the workbench for several weeks. This weekend I decided to finally tackle the project. I planned on taking it this (Monday) morning to a glass shop once I had everything together for them to put the pivot rivet in.

Well none of the glass shops had the pivot rivet. Apparently, if the glass for my truck broke, they'd order and replace the entire assembly. So I called LMC and ordered the rivets (3 just in case). Now I get to wait 3-5 business days.

The guy who took my order couldn't tell me if a standard rivet gun would work or what kind of tool was needed to install the rivet. Looking at the ones I drilled out and the images in the LMC catalog, it doesn't look like a standard pop rivet. The head is smooth, and it doesn't appear that mandrel was used to install it. Has anybody done this that can tell me what I need to install the rivet once I receive it.

Thanks
 
There is a type of punch/ press / mandrel, you need. Think chevy duty, or someone sells them.
 
I used the tool that you can get at the hardware store for installing snaps. it did ok, but wo'nt be any good to use again. it prettymuch bent it. didn't really get the rivets as tight as I wouldve like either. I thought lmc carried the tool also? next time i'll get teh whole stinkin assembly, as they were a biotch to do and still whistle going down the road, even with a nickel stuck in the drivers latch.
It would be cool to find someone who makes 1 piece windows for the front, and do away with the vent windows.
 
k204dr said:
It would be cool to find someone who makes 1 piece windows for the front, and do away with the vent windows.
Click to expand...
I've seen them before, just can't remember who makes them. Best to look in a sport truck mag.
 
My 77 K5 had a bolt instead of a rivet, It was great for when I locked myself out.
 
Hmm...
This is what I see in the Chevy Duty catalog. The rivets don't look anything like what I drilled out. The description says they are for attaching the weatherstrip to the frame. Elsewhere in their website, it says they come in a package of 26. I'm pretty sure these aren't the pivot rivets.

Since the rivets shown aren't for the pivot, I don't know if the tool advertised right below them will work on the actual pivot rivets or not. The tool just looks like a pipe or something. How the heck does that install a rivet?:confused:

rivet.jpg
 
I find nothing about rivet tools (aside from a standard manual pop rivet gun) in the LMC catalog.

This is from the cheyenneparts.com catalog, after searching for "rivet":
rivet-1.jpg

You can see that the first two rivets are clearly the pivot rivets for earlier and later year model trucks. They're recognizable by the stepped diameter. The window frame and the window glass bracket have two different sized holes.

Then, you have what looks like the same tool from the Chevy Duty catalog. This time the description clearly states it's for the 60-72 trucks and for the rivets that attach the weatherstrip to the frame.

Lastly you have the rivet sets for those earlier trucks and for which that tool is meant.


Incidentally, with the two different diameter holes for the rivet in the window frame (bigger) and the window glass bracket (smaller), it seems like a bolt or screw would be a sloppy fit in in the window frame. Unless of course the window frame bracket hole was drilled out so the bolt or screw would be a tight fit in both pieces. Sloppy fit of the screw in the window frame would make the glass loose. I wonder if that could've been the source of your whistling even after changing the rubber?
 
FightinTXag said:
Hmm...
This is what I see in the Chevy Duty catalog. The rivets don't look anything like what I drilled out. The description says they are for attaching the weatherstrip to the frame. Elsewhere in their website, it says they come in a package of 26. I'm pretty sure these aren't the pivot rivets.

Since the rivets shown aren't for the pivot, I don't know if the tool advertised right below them will work on the actual pivot rivets or not. The tool just looks like a pipe or something. How the heck does that install a rivet?:confused:

rivet.jpg
Click to expand...
Thats what they look like before you set them, the ends are hollow
 
I got a bunch of vent assem. laying around if nothing else works out:D .
 
Thats what they look like before you set them, the ends are hollow
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure those are not the pivot rivets. Like I said, the diameter is stepped on the real pivot rivets. You can see them clearly on the cheyennepickup.com catalog.

Both catalogs say those rivets are for attaching weatherstrip to the frame. Cheyennepickup.com further says they're for 60-72 trucks. And cheyennepickup.com says that tool is for those weatherstrip attaching rivets on 60-72 trucks only.

Since chevyduty doesn't appear to carry the pivot rivets at all and cheyennepickup.com says the tool is specifically for those other rivets, I'm inclined to think that tool is not guaranteed to work for the pivot rivets. Maybe I'll call cheyennepickup.com tomorrow.:confused: :confused:

Furthermore, I still don't see how that piece of pipe collapses any rivet.
 
FightinTXag said:
That's friggin' awesome. As I was working on it, I was thinking someone should do a kit like that. If they could couple that kit with motors from 88+ trucks so the windows went up and down faster than Christmas, I might spring for it.

WindowConversionKits_L1.jpg
Click to expand...
I still think 695 bucks is way to much for it!
 
www.yearone.com

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular][SIZE=-1]Vent window rivet tool. Aftermarket tool sets the rivets at the upper pivot point on the vent window assembly.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular][SIZE=-1]VT67 $8.90[/SIZE][/FONT]
trans.gif
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular][SIZE=+1][/SIZE][/FONT]
 
Vent window rivet tool. Aftermarket tool sets the rivets at the upper pivot point on the vent window assembly.
Click to expand...

Damnation! I called Year One and those are on backorder. They have been for 2 months.:mad:
None of the local glass installers seem to have a tool for installing these rivets.

Any other ideas? Anybody from DFW or Austin area (or any point in between) have a tool for this purpose?
 
Ok, after researching online, it looks like the pivot rivet is a semi-tubular stainless steel 1/8" rivet with a 1/4" shoulder and a flat head.

Semi-tubular rivets can be installed using a hammer and die, similar to what is shown on the Cheyennepickup.com website (that partcular one may or may not work). Of course swinging a hammer hard enough to pull up a stainless rivet fractions of an inch from the glass is not what I wanted to do.

The other option for these types of rivets is a rivet squeezer with the correct dies in place. There are manual, pneumatic, and hydraulic rivet squeezers. Even the manual ones are pretty pricey $135+.

As I delved into it I found most commonly the people who are likely to have experience with these tools are kit airplane builders. I stumbled onto the website of a guy here in town that does this kind of work. I shot him an email to pick his brain on my particular application and what kind of tool might be able to do the job, on the cheap since I'd likely only need it for these 2 rivets. Well he invited me to bring the assemblies and rivets over and to see what we could do.

Quite a nice little shop he had setup. He had to fab up a couple of dies and then used his manual squeezer that looked something like this:
53-420.jpg

Voila! Success!

Word of advice:
I don't believe you could ever get these things to seal without using the proper rivet. I had large gaps between the rubber and the glass even with the rivet in place but not yet pulled up. The rivet expands in the hole, moving the glass, and centering the two holes relative to each other. That makes a huge difference as far as the glass/rubber interface within the frame. I've still got a tiny little pinhole of light coming through one of my assemblies.

If I had it to do again, I'd probably pony up for all new assemblies for the following reasons:
1. You're likely to have wind leaks as bad or worse than before without using the proper rivet AND a new latch,
2. The difficulty I encountered finding a tool suitable for installing the rivet,
3. The PITA that the rubber seals themselves are, and
4. After all this hassle, I still won't know if I've fixed my wind noise until I get it back in the truck and take it for a spin.
 
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