Heated Rivets in a Pickup Bed

[Rex Perry]

I am in the process of rebuilding the bed from my 1929 CCPU. Repairs required the disassembly of all but the base frame. My planned repair procedure is to sandblast the parts, weld as required and spray with an epoxy sealer.
Potential problem comes with the installation of the rivets. If the rivets are installed cold there is no issue. If the rivets are installed hot the epoxy sealer will suffer. Most of the rivets are .25" dia. but there are some .312" dia. rivets in the side panel to rail joint.
Has anyone had experience with the hot installation of rivets in parts that had an epoxy sealer applied?
Thanks

 

[midgetracer]

I have not heated a quarter inch rivet, but I assembled a complete pickup box using cold rivets. The secret is to use a real pneumatic rivet gun and not an air chisel or muffler tool. They use short strokes and do not hit hard. The rivet gun uses long strokes and hits hard. The strokes are slow so the riveter does not jump all over resulting in a big mess. The rivet gun is easy to hold steady and leaves a perfect rivet job every time. It does help to have someone to buck the rivet. My friend and I assembled a complete pickup box in two hours and it looks factory perfect. Rivet guns come in 2X to 5X I think. Mine is just a 2X. They are available from aircraft suppliers and sometimes on Ebay.

 

[wrndln]

Rex,
Just sandblast the area around the rivets that are heated and reprime after heating and setting the rivets. I use a small siphon feed sandblaster to do small jobs. I have done that on various rivets. Just make sure to blow all the sand dust off and use some wax and grease remover before repriming to make sure the area is clean. I think it is easier to heat the 1/4" rivet to get a good "set". Midgetracer said he didn't heat the 1/4" rivets, but I am going to use heat when I "set" the rivets on my bed. I don't heat 3/16" body rivets when I install them, but they are smaller and easier to set cold.
Rusty Nelson

 

[Chris Haynes]

Henry had them riveted before paint was applied.

 

[Rex Perry]

Thanks for the comments. I think that some experimentation will be on the schedule to come up with an acceptable process. The post by Midgetracer is right on; the muffler cutter type gun is not the right tool. Besides not hitting hard enough, it is either off or on and cannot be "throttled". I hate to apply primer sealer and then burn it all off by heating the rivets. Maybe there is a different localized method of rivet heating.

 

[40 Deluxe]

Thanks for the comments. I think that some experimentation will be on the schedule to come up with an acceptable process. The post by Midgetracer is right on; the muffler cutter type gun is not the right tool. Besides not hitting hard enough, it is either off or on and cannot be "throttled". I hate to apply primer sealer and then burn it all off by heating the rivets. Maybe there is a different localized method of rivet heating.

Maybe do like they did on skyscrapers? Heat the rivet red hot and quickly set it. The surrounding metal will quickly absorb the heat and may not damage the epoxy, which can take a lot more heat than, say, your hand.

 

[SSsssteamer]

I have assembled/riveted two new pick up beds so far, also riveted a couple of bodies too. I tried heating the rivets but they cooled too fast for the heat to be of any help. I have used the cheap muffler/air chisel air tool to do all of my cold rivet work. To throttle the tool down, reduce the air pressure to the riveter through an air regulator. At 90 pounds, I did more damage than good. At 60 pounds, every rivet looked like a factory job. Also, hold the tool firmly to keep it from bouncing around when riveting. My wife bucket my rivets for me.