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MG MGB Technical - door window seal -- rivets

1972 bgt. Starting to put the door hardware back together. The trim piece at the top of the door (which the rubber seal is clipped to) is held to the door by rivets. Can't get my rivet gun far enough down into the door to install a proper rivet. I could try shooting the rivet at an angle but afraid the trim piece may not pull up tight against the door. Anyone else have this problem? Solutions?

Thanks, Tom
Tom Custer

Tom

I ground the tip of the rivet gun end down to a sharper point to allow it to sit in further.

Ste
Ste brown

That would certainly help, Ste. Wonder if the factory used a gun with a real narrow, slim head.
Tom Custer

I did the same thing to my rivet gun for installing rivets to the header rail when installing a new top. Very little room to work in. I'm about to install new trim pieces this week. RAY
rjm RAY

Tom,

You can slip a steel spacer over the rivet before putting it into the gun. Any odd piece of metal that fits in the gap will do, and as long as it isn't too long to stop the gun gripping the tail of the rivet you're off. The hole needs to be close to the diameter of the wire to avoid distortion. Done this lots of times fixing sail track onto small boat masts.

David
D Balkwill

Exactly so, and you need to do that with the trim-strip fasteners to avoid distorting them, even with a long-nose rivet gun. A small nut is usually enough for that, but have a supply as it is easy for them to ping off.
Paul Hunt 2010

What is the correct rivet size for this job?
Dan Hiltz

The short 1/8" rivets do the job most of the time. Occasionally, you'll need a medium length one in the harder to reach places. I finished doing mine last month, after putting it off for 9 years. It turned out very nice, but it was a lot of work which involved removing the side windows. RAY
rjm RAY

I avoided the rivet problem by using small stainless steel Philips head screws.

Charley
C R Huff

I also had a space problem with my '72 MGB when replacing the rubber window trim on the outside of the window. However, I removed the window glass which was in the way, and had no further problems.

None of the other responses mention window glass. Was everyone else trying to work around the glass?
glq Greg

Hope not, couldn't really see how to refit the seal with it in-situ!
PaulH Solihull

Mine had to come out. They got a good cleaning at the time and there was considerable overspray on them from when I had the car painted almost 20 years ago. I can actually see through them now! RAY
rjm RAY

When I did this (twice, the seal starts to spilt from the metal after several years) I used my pop rivet gun and dont recall any problems. Glass out of course. Is the GT different from the roadster
Stan Best

I used some small nuts on the "stem" of the pop rivets, enough for the gun to still grip the rivet but also to make a narrower end.
John Prewer

The GT is different as it has a metal outer cover. I've not had to do mine yet but I think spring clips are involved with that. I did my roadster 20 years ago, and they are still good.
PaulH Solihull

Tom,
There is an upper row and a lower row of rivets on the waist rail trim. The upper row is accessible except for the end ones. It is impossible to do
the lower row without them being at an angle. I agree with Charley on the stainless steel screws, but you have to be careful not to screw into the outer skin. There is very little space behind the trim. A truss head screw has the flatest head and will give the greatest clearance from the glass. I also found that the rearmost rivet/screw could interfere with the window track fore/aft adjustment.
Joe g.
J. E. Guthrie

This thread was discussed between 11/07/2010 and 19/10/2010

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