Putting the windshield back together

[GregW]

I will be dismantling my BJ8 windshield frame soon to send out to be chromed. What’s a good way to assemble the frame as far as the rivets go? I’ve been watching a rivet squeezer on ebay, but I was also thinking of an arbor press fitted with some dies. Any thoughts would be appreciated. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif

Thank You,
Greg

 

[AUSMHLY]

Hi Greg, The only place that needs rivets is to hold the weather stip going down the left and right pillers. There will be 4 rivets per side. The rest of the windshield is held together this screws. I replaced all screws with stainless. Replaceing the rubber strip on the bottom of the windshield is a bit of work to get it to fit inside the channel. Coating the channel with hand soap, makes it a bit easyer. Good luck.

 

[Keoke]

Hi greg, Which rivets are you refering too?---Keoke

 

[GregW]

Hi Keoke,
The photo shows the two types of solid rivets I’m wondering about. A set of four and a set of five per side. I think they are steel so I imagine they need a fair amount of force to expand properly. I guess the Old School way would be to use a center punch and a big hammer, which I can do if it works. That would be the least expensive way to go. It looks like there is rust between the two brackets. That’s the reason I’m thinking of doing this.

 

[John Loftus]

Greg,

I decided to not remove these rivets when I had my pillars rechromed after discussing things with the plater (But, I could not see any rust between the plates either). I should be getting those parts back today so will see if it came out o.k. I did remove the soft top hook rivets and will need to use a rivet gun/bucking bar to reset. The rivets, BTW are avail. through British Car Specialists.

Cheers,
John

 

[big6]

The windshield frame is made of brass and chrome plated. I also elected not to remove the rivets mounting the J hook for the top mount or the plate at the bottom. After receiving my re-chromed vertical mounts, they cannot do a show chrome job polishing around the top hooks. However, you have to look very closely to see the areas not polished. If I were to do it again, I would still not remove the rivets.

 

[Keoke]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/iagree.gif --Greg
With all those that let those rivets in the "J" Hooks alone. Not being concours I do not use the side rivets in the Pillar trims either. Also the taper on the head of the screws that hold the wind screen together is unique. Consequently, if you want to replace them they will require retapering on a lathe to fit flush in the frame and must exactly duplicate the original screw lengths to avoid breaking the glass.---Keoke

 

[GregW]

Hi John,
How did the chrome turn out on your windshield?

 

[John Loftus]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi John,
How did the chrome turn out on your windshield?

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi Greg,
The pillar pieces turned out well. If you look real closely you can tell the rivets were not removed but considering these areas are not very visible when installed I think it was the right way to go. Here's a few pictures:

 

[Keoke]

Yes /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/iagree.gif John. Fiddling with those rivits which are not visible is just asking for a bit more trouble during reassembly Greg.The nickle under plating is very brittle and subject to crack under shock or high pressure.---Keoke

 

[GregW]

Hi John,
That came out fantastic. Thanks for the pictures. I guess I'll leave well enough alone on mine. The rust seems to be coming from the rivets themselves. I'll wirebrush them clean and send the whole thing off. Thanks everyone else for your input.

Best Wishes,
Greg