Hints for front cross member riveting

[Will N]

Does anyone have any hints for bucking the rivets on the front cross member? I bought that screw adjustable bucking bar for tight places, but even with that, it's almost impossible to reach up in there.

 

[Brentwood Bob]

Several able helpers.
I made up 1 inch steel plate bucking bars using a pattern from a restorer article, and bolted
The member in place after through cleaning and metal primer on all surfaces.
An acetylene torch and a hand sledge and eye protection are required. Ropes from rafters overhead aided us to position the main frame over the bucking bar. Took several hours, and liberal use of profanity.

 

[Model A Joe]

Brentwood Bob, do you remember what issue the bucking bar pattern was in? Or at least possibly the year to narrow it down?

 

[Brentwood Bob]

Not off hand, but I will do some looking.

 

[Brentwood Bob]

How to Restore Your Model A volume 4. Page 5.

 

[Kingo]

This is the bucking form I used on a few of the rivets. I unscrewed the concave end out the the adjustable bucking form and screwed it into a hole on the end of my home made form. What is not shown is I welded the form to a 1” square bar stock with a flat plate welded on other end. The bar stock was long enough to allow frame to stand up on its side with ground clearance for the running board braces. Having the weight of frame ang bucking bar in contact with a solid surface really helps the final results

 

[Brentwood Bob]

Yep the bucking bar is supported.

 

[Bruce of MN]

A friend who tackled riveting said this: "Our bucking bars were several heavy metal pieces that we ground or cut to fit the spaces needed. We made one out of a heavy duty truck spring and notched it so it would fit up into the frame. In each case, we used a dremel tool to cut out a rivethead sized pocket. Our technique was that one person would hold the heavy bucking bar in position while the other person heated the rivet and then applied the air hammer. It worked pretty well. Also, that is how we attached the rear frame extensions on the Model A frame for the A-V8."

 

[Will N]

Thanks for all your suggestions

 

[Brentwood Bob]

Let us know how it works out.