Rear Shroud Rivets

Hello Friends

Has anyone ever attached the rear shroud with half-round rivets after disassembly and reassembly?
With which tool you can do that sensibly. My previous attempts with homemade clamps were not quite successful.

Gerd

Realistically, you'll get the best results with a pneumatic rivet gun and a bucking bar, but the guns aren't cheap:

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/topages/rivetgun2602.php?clickkey=4963

If you know any aircraft mechanics they might be willing to loan you one (and a buck). A hand riveter might work, but I have no experience with them:

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/topages/atsSuperRivetSq.php

A rivet squeezer may be the best bet. It takes some practice to use a pneumatic rivet gun and bucking bar without damaging the surrounding metal or smearing the rivet. The least expensive one I've seen around is this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Rivet-Squeezer-Solid-Tubular-Rivets/dp/B017I1MGDC

Be advised you need to get the proper setting head for the rivet style you choose. It looks like this one comes with sets for flush rivets only and a round head die is available but extra. You could probably set a roundhead rivet with a flush die but it would flatten the rivet head a bit. You also will have problem if the holes are oversized in that you don't want to use huge rivets but you need to fill the holes when you squeeze them. The hand squeezer gives an inexperienced person a bit more control over the process.

The last time I shot or bucked a rivet was 50 plus years ago when doing summer work building aircraft.
Leaning to shoot/buck rivets takes a lot of time and a lot of rivets. Not something you want to start on a car.
Practice on scrap for a while, when you can do 10 perfectly in a row you are ready to move the car.
Squeezing is a little easier but also takes practice on scrap material.

Nice tool. You did a great job

I built my tool from a C-clamp and two rivet setters for semi-circular rivets. I shortened the rivet setters and welded them into the clamp. I got the idea from a youtube video by Matthew Randell.
But you should take a more robust C-clamp. at the 12 rivet it is broken at overload. I welded them together again and strengthened a bit