The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors ID plate rivets drivers side

HI..hope everybody is well! I purchased a new ID plate for my 54/3100 its on the drivers side door post. I also ordered the correct rivets which are on back order so while waiting for them I would like to know how best to apply them as there are no instructions with the plate....THANKS, Steve :rolleyes:

Hmmm, its probably a special tool,part# 48649376256274866611143534. Available from one of the suppliers. It probably costs five times as much as the two little rivets,,and can only be used once. Whats the odds,huh Steve?
Lookin forward to seein ya sunday,,,,,Ill try to bring all my '54 "goodies".
Happy Truckin,Marty

Steve,

Good luck with using the tool to install the rivets - the rivets I received did not have holes in the middle - neither did the original rivets on my '54 Suburban. Also, I do not know how you might get "behind" the rivet when it is in place. Please let us know how well it works, if you find a tool.

I plan to use a little JB Weld to hold rivets in place (hidden behind the plate - dabbed in the holes in the door frame).

Marty,

Did that tool work OK for you?

Thanks,
Tim

[img]http://www.classicparts.com/images/33-106.JPG[/img]

Great pic Tim! That's what mine looked like. If you use a punch that will just fit in the center and tap it gently it will spread out on the backside and hold it in place. Just go far enough to flatten out the lump.

Curt B.

OK....I think you have hit the rivet on the head....a small flat nosed punch will expand the backside of the rivet....also I will put some JB Weld around the rivet to seal it.....THANKS... another problem solved....T/C Steve

Thanks, Curt. What you describe sounds good. I will give it a try. Tim

I should have said "pin punch".

Dear Steve;

Where did you buy the new plate??

Thanks, John M..

I have seen on a lot of trucks in salvage yards that they had the small clutch head screws holding them on.

From the Tech Tips on Jim Carter's site:

"A unique characteristic of the 1949 and older GM truck is that the I.D. plate was not riveted at the factory but rather held in place by two small clutch head screws with a hexagon perimeter. Thus a wrench or a clutch driver can tighten or remove them."

Where did you get rivets ?

Yeah I often find they may have the parts but have no idea what years they were really used on. My 48 sure has screws

I have a 53 car. The plate is spot welded. Once i had to change a plate on a Pontiac about a 54 or so. That was riveted. I used pop rivets and punched the "nail" out of the center. They looked just like the OE.

And they say that I'm a nit-picker and that I get lost in the little details! But really, I do appreciate it when someone pays attention to the small details. Like some have said before, if all your interested in is keeping it running then what difference does it make. But if your interested in restoring the truck it does make a differnce.
Tim, I'm not sure what your talking about here; "two small clutch head screws with a hexagon perimeter". Sounds like your discribing a hex head screw with a clutch socket in it. You wouldn't happen to have a close up picture of that screw head would you?
From the way you discribed them you can bet your sweet bippie that those aren't avalable anywhere.
I just went out and looked and my 1950, 3604. It has two Phillips head screws holding the plate in place. They might be original as the truck was in the care of the original owners until a couple of years ago and was kept quite original. I checked the history of the cross head screw and by the end of WWII they were in wide use.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny,

The words were not mine (as indicated by the "" "").

On Jim Carter\'s site , in "Tech Tips" (menu on the right of his main page); select the picture of the "1947-55 Catalog" cover; select "Misc"; then, finally, select "Screw On ID Plates").

Here is the photo that Jim Carter shows:
[img]http://www.oldchevytrucks.com/images/tip_pics/id_plate_screws_small.jpg[/img]

You cannot see the hexagonal perimeter too well but you can see the clutch-head indentation.

Tim

Sorry just re-read your reply and must have missed the "". How in the world did you find that??? Interesting!
I down loaded the picture from JC site and blew it up in Photoshop and the hex on the head is clearly visible. Something else for me to figure out, "How is it made", and how am I going to make it.
I believe there may be some misinformation about the holes being punched in the right doorpost. Taint none in my 1950, maybe the earlier ones were punched though. Like I said, mine had Phillips screws fastening the ID plate, but that isn’t to say that someone didn’t change them. I’m gonna have to put that in the notebook to start checking AD’s that haven’t been touched (if there are any) and do my own survey.
While we are nit-pickin over screws, I also noticed a couple of AD's that had clutch head machine screws attaching the hood latch plate. Mine did not and I'm pretty sure they were changed on mine because there is evidance of some minor body work to the front end.
Thanks Tim
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Never noticed but just went and checked. My 50's ID plate is attached with Phillips head screws like Denny says. My 51's plate is riveted with the rivets like the previous photo. Had never payed attention to the one on the 50. Even the holes in the plate are in slightly different locations.

Bob

Here is more confusion, the ID plate on my 50 3604 has the the two clutch head screws and I am about 90% sure that they are original in fact I was trying to find a replacement ID plate mine is pretty beat up.

Just to chime in on this: My 1950 3604 came from the original owner with the original title so I know not much has been changed in a few spots. My plate that matches the title is held on with the phillips head screws. I also have the two holes in the right door pillar for an export tag.

I think some of the deviations might be factory to factory.

check this out, remember this is from a 50 3604 http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg59/cobraosc/DSCF1222.jpg

My 49 has clutch head screws holding on the tag, but I am willing to bet those with phillips head screws doing the same thing, they are orignal screws. However, most of the screws on my truck were phillips head, and more than likely were original. Like Cletis says, there are probably deviations from factory to factory.