11 replies to this topic

[David Birchall]

I am in the midst of building a special that will evoke (I hope) the sports racers of the late forties and early fifties:-Frazer Nash LM Rep, Maserati A6GCS, Ferrari 166 SC, HWM etc.... I am wondering if I am correct if I use pop rivets--when did they appear?

[Cirrus]

I think pop rivets were developed in the early 1930's, but I'm not sure how quickly they were adopted.

[mikeC]

Pop rivets were definitely used on the upholstery on the 1934 Austin Seven Ruby (and possibly on earlier models) - back in the sixties there was a lot of stick given to "pop rivet specials", so I was quite surprised to discover this. Two were used on each front seat to attach the leather of the backrest to the steel frame base.

[Leigh Trevail]

I was told that Pop Rivets were invented by Armstrong Siddeley for their aircraft production, I have no idea whether or not this is true.

Post Script..

I now have reason to believe that the above is total rubbish !

Edited by Leigh Trevail, 04 January 2010 - 09:41.

[Allan Lupton]

I was told that Pop Rivets were invented by Armstrong Siddeley for their aircraft production, I have no idea whether or not this is true.

Can't say which company invented/first used them but blind rivets were certainly developed for aircraft use as there were a lot of cases where you needed to rivet something to a closed section where dollying-up was not possible.
What got pop rivets a bad name in special building was their use whether or not they were necessary - i.e. when a solid rivet could have been used.
By the 1950/60s at de Havilland, we were using Chobert rivets for blind rivetting - they used a mandrel to expand them, rather than a break-off pin, and could then be filled with a shear pin for added strength (and sealing).

Edited by Allan Lupton, 04 January 2010 - 09:49.

[Nordet]

Blind rivets, where the fastener could be installed from one side, were developed in the USA in the 1930's by Carl Cherry and Leo Huck, companies bearing their names are still around today. At the same time, George Tucker Eyelets in Birmingham developed their blind fastener, named the 'pop' rivet.

Tuckers went on to develop the closed end blind rivet that was designed to be water and gas tight, it was this closed end rivet that became popular in the 1960's as it had a grater vibration resistence and the mandrel head (the bit left inside on setting) could not come out.

The Avdel speed rivet, one of which is the Chobert, was developed primarily for aircraft use, where several could be loaded into the tool at the same time to allow quick installation. The speed rivets leave a clear hole down the centre of the eyelet where the setting mandrel pulls through. Avdel designed their own pop rivet, the Avex rivet.

Designs, materials and sizes have remained unchanged since they were introduced, the 3.2mm (1/8) and 4.8mm (3/16) diameters being the biggest sellers.

[David Birchall]

Thank you for all that info gentlemen. So, the pop type rivet was available in 1950 but came to represent cheap and cheerful construction in the 'Limited production' car world. Perhaps that is not what I want...

[Tony Matthews]

Blind rivets, where the fastener could be installed from one side, were developed in the USA in the 1930's by Carl Cherry and Leo Huck, companies bearing their names are still around today.

Huck rivets were used on the GT40 'production line' in Slough. Much simple pleasure was to be had from accentuating the trade name with ever greater emphasis.

[Mistron]

Here is what Wikipedia has (usual rules apply!) - doesn't say when they were introduced, but interesting that they were a British invention by a shoe manufacturing machinery maker.

Who said Wikipedia was full of cobblers????

http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Pop_rivets

[wenoopy]

Thank you for all that info gentlemen. So, the pop type rivet was available in 1950 but came to represent cheap and cheerful construction in the 'Limited production' car world. Perhaps that is not what I want...

Undoubtedly Pop/Blind rivets were available from the 1940's but a brief scout through available photographs of details of construction of sports and racing cars of the period doesn't reveal any definite examples of them being used, only a couple of "possibles". Perhaps they weren't talked about in polite society at the time.

[Gerr]

Thank you for all that info gentlemen. So, the pop type rivet was available in 1950 but came to represent cheap and cheerful construction in the 'Limited production' car world. Perhaps that is not what I want...

Dave, If you are after an period looking, dome-head style rivit and can only use or prefer to use a blind/pop style rivet, try these...

http://www.vintagetr...s_p/vts-179.htm

"Olympic Bulb-tite rivets are the ideal rivet to use with all exterior skin repair on aluminum trailers. They provide a clean look that closely resembles the original rivets used by the factory. The 5/32" rivets are the best size for Airstreams because they are similar in size to the rivets used originally. Click on MORE PHOTOS for detailed dimensions.

These rivets can be installed with most standard pop rivet tools.

The special Olympic shave tool is required to finish to a nice domed appearance. If have just a small number of rivets to finish and want to try to avoid purchasing the shave tool, you may find a Dremel or mill file can do a decent job of smoothing the head. However, the shave tool will create a far superior finish."

Some more info here...

http://www.crestfast...0024RV6607-5-5W

[David Birchall]

Thanks Gerry-I will look into those-perhaps I should buy a matching Airstream too!