Silver53 -

Are you trying to set the rivets with the vent assembly in the door? The assembly must be removed.

I set the vent seal rivets and the pivot rivets in my '54 3104 exactly as Jay Barrington "Houston54" showed in his Tech Tip and photo.
> TECH TIP: Rebuild your vent windows

I had no problem. Set the rivets on the seal before you install the channel run. You must have a helper to hold the assembly while you set the rivets. Pad the 3/8" plate with tape to protect the paint on the vent frame. Buy extra rivets incase you screw up a few and an extra setting tool. I cut one of my setting tools shorter to help set the top rivet.

Jay Barrington:

"Step 5A - Installing Rivets

The vertical rubber strip that the new glass will seal against is installed next. When I purchased my new parts, I also purchased the replacement rivets and the rivet setting tool.

Having a helper for this step will make things easier.

As you can see in the image, I have a piece of 3/8" plate in the vise to act as a backing drift. I placed some black weather-stripping adhesive in the top and bottom corners to ensure a good seal. I then positioned the new rubber strip as shown. Your helper should hold the frame in place over the back drift, while you position the new rivet in the first hole using some needle nose pliers. Position the rivet setting tool over the rivet and hit it firmly with a hammer until the rivet is set. You do not have to hit it with great force to make this happen. Repeat for the other rivets.

As you will note, I protected the fresh paint with some blue tape during this step."

- Lonnie

- Lonnie
My '54 3104
Photos that I have shared on Stovebolt via PhotoBucket are no longer available. Please contact me if you want a photo from an old post.
lonniecook [at] aol [dot] com. I sold my '54 3104 12/12/2017, but I still visit Stovebolt.

OLD STUFF ... houses, furniture, cars, wine ... I love it all