Replacing seals in sports car hardtop
 

The seals need replacing in my wife's Mazda MX5 hardtop. I've got the
seals but I see that the original ones are held into the fibre glass
with a couple of pop rivets. On the soft top, the similar seals are
held in with screws.

I don't think I can get to the back of the holes so I'm assuming that
I'm going to have to use pop rivets again. I take it that they are
removable with the appropriate bit of judicious drilling ?

Thanks

Rob

Replacing seals in sports car hardtop
 

In article
,
robgraham wrote:
The seals need replacing in my wife's Mazda MX5 hardtop. I've got the
seals but I see that the original ones are held into the fibre glass
with a couple of pop rivets. On the soft top, the similar seals are
held in with screws.

I don't think I can get to the back of the holes so I'm assuming that
I'm going to have to use pop rivets again. I take it that they are
removable with the appropriate bit of judicious drilling ?

Yup. For this sort of app they are usually aluminium so drill out easily.
Probably 5mm.

--
*The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Replacing seals in sports car hardtop
 

robgraham wrote:
The seals need replacing in my wife's Mazda MX5 hardtop. I've got the
seals but I see that the original ones are held into the fibre glass
with a couple of pop rivets. On the soft top, the similar seals are
held in with screws.

I don't think I can get to the back of the holes so I'm assuming that
I'm going to have to use pop rivets again. I take it that they are
removable with the appropriate bit of judicious drilling ?

The best way to remove (non-countersunk) pop rivets (Tucker pops) is to use
a single sided chisel* to remove the head and then punch the body through.
There is a bit of a knack to giving the head exactly the right tap to remove
it cleanly .
Check first that the centre mandrel is not still in place - if it is then
punch it out first.
It can help to just start to drill them out but they often start to turn and
end up making the hole larger.

*(Those of us who remove them a lot make our own chisel to do the job - it
needs to be flat on one side but slightly curved up to clear the body - a
bit like a bent wood chisel)

Slatts

Replacing seals in sports car hardtop
 

robgraham wrote:
The seals need replacing in my wife's Mazda MX5 hardtop. I've got the
seals but I see that the original ones are held into the fibre glass
with a couple of pop rivets. On the soft top, the similar seals are
held in with screws.

I don't think I can get to the back of the holes so I'm assuming that
I'm going to have to use pop rivets again. I take it that they are
removable with the appropriate bit of judicious drilling ?

I think I qualify as an expert here as I am forever removing them to fit new
seals!
The best way to remove (non-countersunk) pop rivets (Tucker pops) is to use
a single sided chisel* to remove the head and then punch the body through.
There is a bit of a knack to giving the head exactly the right tap to remove
it cleanly .
Check first that the steel centre mandrel is not still in place - if it is
then
punch it out first.
It can help to just start to drill them out but they often start to turn and
end up making the hole larger.

*(Those of us who remove them a lot make our own chisel to do the job - you
can make it from a 3/8" metal work chisel - it needs to be flat on one side
but slightly curved up to clear the bodywork - a bit like the sharp end of a
wood chisel that has been bent )

Slatts

Replacing seals in sports car hardtop
 

On 10 Jan, 18:56, "Sla#s" wrote:
robgraham wrote:
The seals need replacing in my wife's Mazda MX5 hardtop. I've got the
seals but I see that the original ones are held into the fibre glass
with a couple of pop rivets. On the soft top, the similar seals are
held in with screws.

I don't think I can get to the back of the holes so I'm assuming that
I'm going to have to use pop rivets again. I take it that they are
removable with the appropriate bit of judicious drilling ?

I think I qualify as an expert here as I am forever removing them to fit new
seals!
The best way to remove (non-countersunk) pop rivets (Tucker pops) is to use
a single sided chisel* to remove the head and then punch the body through.
There is a bit of a knack to giving the head exactly the right tap to remove
it cleanly .
Check first that the steel centre mandrel is not still in place - if it is
then
punch it out first.
It can help to just start to drill them out but they often start to turn and
end up making the hole larger.

*(Those of us who remove them a lot make our own chisel to do the job - you
can make it from a 3/8" metal work chisel - it needs to be flat on one side
but slightly curved up to clear the bodywork - a bit like the sharp end of a
wood chisel that has been bent )

Slatts

Thanks, guys - off to the hills tomorrow (snow and sun forecast,
should be great) so that will be the Saturday job. My instinct is to
avoid making a special tool but if needs must !!

Rob

Replacing seals in sports car hardtop
 

robgraham wrote:
The seals need replacing in my wife's Mazda MX5 hardtop. I've got the
seals but I see that the original ones are held into the fibre glass
with a couple of pop rivets. On the soft top, the similar seals are
held in with screws.

I don't think I can get to the back of the holes so I'm assuming that
I'm going to have to use pop rivets again. I take it that they are
removable with the appropriate bit of judicious drilling ?

Thanks

Rob
yes. Normally if the steel inner has popped out, a 3mm or 3.2mm drill
will have them out.

Replacing seals in sports car hardtop
 

In article ,
Sla#s wrote:
The best way to remove (non-countersunk) pop rivets (Tucker pops) is to
use a single sided chisel* to remove the head and then punch the body
through. There is a bit of a knack to giving the head exactly the right
tap to remove it cleanly .

And more of a knack avoiding damage to the part the rivet is holding on?

I've removed hundreds of these things using the same size drill needed for
the clearance hole. And never had a problem.

--
*Pride is what we have. Vanity is what others have.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Replacing seals in sports car hardtop
 

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Sla#s wrote:
The best way to remove (non-countersunk) pop rivets (Tucker pops) is to
use a single sided chisel* to remove the head and then punch the body
through. There is a bit of a knack to giving the head exactly the right
tap to remove it cleanly .

And more of a knack avoiding damage to the part the rivet is holding on?

I've removed hundreds of these things using the same size drill needed for
the clearance hole. And never had a problem.

If the bit thats held on is to be replaced, then knock off is fast and
effective..

I HAVE had problems drilling..the bloody rived catches on te drill and
spins round and scratches..

Horses for courses I reckon,.

Replacing seals in sports car hardtop
 

In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Sla#s wrote:
The best way to remove (non-countersunk) pop rivets (Tucker pops) is
to use a single sided chisel* to remove the head and then punch the
body through. There is a bit of a knack to giving the head exactly
the right tap to remove it cleanly .

And more of a knack avoiding damage to the part the rivet is holding
on?

I've removed hundreds of these things using the same size drill needed
for the clearance hole. And never had a problem.

If the bit thats held on is to be replaced, then knock off is fast and
effective..

Might be if doing thousands all at once. On things like trunking etc where
a scratch doesn't matter. But on a car most of the time a drill is the
answer.

I HAVE had problems drilling..the bloody rived catches on te drill and
spins round and scratches..

So no different from chiselling?

Horses for courses I reckon,.

I still prefer the drill method. It's only likely to spin just before the
rivet breaks in most cases where it does spin and moving the drill off
'vertical' slightly usually stops it. But you do need the correct size
drill.

--
*If horrific means to make horrible, does terrific mean to make terrible?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Replacing seals in sports car hardtop
 

In article ,
Sla#s wrote:
If you want to make them stronger don't pull them up to the breaking
point. Just pull until they are tight then remove the puller and snip
the mandrel off with an end cutter.

You'll need some cutter - they're very hard steel.

Leaving the mandrel in just about
doubles the shear strength of a pop - but not of course the tension
strength.

Isn't it likely to fall out?

--
*If you ate pasta and anti-pasta, would you still be hungry?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.