Data plate rivet holes don't line up

[Tim R Hansen]

Just purchased a data plate for the firewall on my late 31 Coupe. The rivet holes in the firewall don't line up with the holes in the repro plate. Holes are off by about 1/16" My firewall is not a re-stamp. Anyone run into this?

 

[Joop]

Can you post a picture

 

[Tim R Hansen]

I can try but it will be difficult to show. The two bottom holes line up but the two top holes are both about 1/16 lower than the holes in the plate

 

[Bob Bidonde]

I had this problem when restoring my 190A. Rather than rework the original holes in the firewall, I pulled the holes in data plate using a rat tail file. Look closely and you can see the elongation of the holes. My hope is that a correct fitting plate will eventually become available.

 

[Ed in Maine]

I experienced this problem also. Like Bob has suggested, I elongated the holes and found that the heads of the rivets did cover the holes in the plate. You may have to elongate all four holes in the plate to get the fit you want. Ed

 

[SteveB31]

The file will work, but if you buy a good US made patent plate, they will line up perfect. Chinese patent plate won’t.

 

[GPierce]

The plate I bought from Berts lined up perfectly.
https://modelastore.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=Patent plate&category_id=0

 

[SSsssteamer]

I experienced this problem also. Like Bob has suggested, I elongated the holes and found that the heads of the rivets did cover the holes in the plate. You may have to elongate all four holes in the plate to get the fit you want. Ed

Ditto. For over 50 years, the repro data plates have had to have their drilled holes adjusted to match the firewall rivet holes.

 

[Tim R Hansen]

I made it work. Next time I go to Bert's first

 

[Charlie Stephens]

The file will work, but if you buy a good US made patent plate, they will line up perfect. Chinese patent plate won’t.

Who do you recommend as a supplier?

Charlie Stephens

 

[cpf240]

I made it work. Next time I go to Bert's first

Where did you buy the I’ll-fitting plate?

No matter who the vendor is, I’d suggest calling and ask if one part is better than another. Places like Berts, Brattons, Snyder’s, etc will give you their opinion.

 

[Benson]

Who do you recommend as a supplier?

Charlie Stephens

Berts Model A Center has the correct sized plates.


www.modelastore.com


With some parts there are several sources for parts and Berts has used the various parts and they know which ones are good and which are not so good!

 

[Oldbluoval]

Bert’s is a great source
Every time I tell someone and they don’t...... I get to use one of
My favorite phrases....
“I told u so”

 

[Dean Lemoine]

I bought one from Mike’s, it fit perfectly