Ken -

I clamped a piece of 3/8" aluminum plate in my vice to act as a backing plate for the vent pivot rivet. My wife held the vent window assembly and sat the head of the rivet onto the plate. Then I mushroomed the end of the rivet with a rivet setting tool like Tim showed in his link. They are sold by the same vendors that sell the rivets. It went suprisingly well. Protect the paint on your vent assembly with blue painter's tape.
> Backing Plate shown in Tech Tip
> "Hammering the Rivets" shown in Tech Tip

You may have to find another person to hold your vent assembly. My wife is busy the next couple of weekends.

I used the same 3/8" plate to back up the rivets when I set the rubber seal on the vertical vent divider as shown in the Tech Tip pictures.

Here is a good Tech Tip on vent window seals and rivets.
> Vent Rebuild Tech Tip

FYI - "Achipmunk" made special screws and nuts to replace the vent pivot rivet.
> Alvin's pivot rivet thread

- 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