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Rivet Squeezer

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GregW

GregW

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As some of you have probably figured out, I don’t usually take the easy road. It really felt silly to me to buy a rivet squeezer for the few rivets on my Healey. So I decided to make one. Thought I’d pass it along in case someone else was interested. I used a 5” C clamp as the base. Made a collar out of some tubing to keep the foot of the screw part from pivoting. The collar was only welded to the foot so it still rotates on the screw. Then cut the end of the clamp off and welded a center punch to it so the tip would be centered to the foot. I torched off the unused part of the punch and ground off some excess metal around the punch to make the clamp thinner. The steel rod in the picture was slightly drilled so the head of the rivet would ride in it. For the lower lip of the trunk I used tubular rivets. You can see a test sample at the bottom.
139339-sqeezer.jpg
 
Well, it’s about a century behind revolutionary, and it ain’t pretty. However, it is cheap and it works. Considering I may never use it again, I’m glad I didn’t spend the money for a real squeezer.
 
Hi Greg,

Nice "necessity is the mother of invention" tool! Looks like it would work well for the hollow rivets that hold the heat shield material on. May need to borrow that some day soon so keep it handy!

Cheers,
John
 
Any time John, it’s hanging on the pegboard of my closet, er garage. Sounds like your project is coming along well if you’re doing heat shields soon.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Sounds like your project is coming along well if you’re doing heat shields soon.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, it's just one of the things on the list. I figure if I just keep finishing stuff and bolting them on the car that eventually it will be drivable (note that I didn't say it would be done .. but drivable would be nice!)

Cheers,
John
 
Drivable is the goal I have right now too. I am still a long way from it being drivable, but have set next summer as a target date. I am refurbishing and rebuilding to get it to a rolling refurbish stage so I can start enjoying it. Mine has been in various kinds storage for about 22 years and I REALLY want to drive it again. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif
Cheers,
Dave Duffey
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thirsty.gif
 
Hi Dave,

It's great to hear you are getting your BT7 back together. It's taken 3 years so far on my BJ7 restoration and I've missed a few 'target dates' but I try not to get discouraged! Progress is a funny thing with a restoration. Often feels like two steps forward, one step back ... then order some more parts, repeat!

Cheers,
John
 
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