Club 80-90 Forums

3.2mmx 16 pop rivet, m3 washer on head, M3x8 clear spacer, 5.5mm od

Can mock it up here by shortening a longer rivet as I only have 20mm long.

thought about a pop rivit, but decided it may "nip" too tight and trap the movement ??

Mocki wrote:thought about a pop rivit, but decided it may "nip" too tight and trap the movement ??

I guess the spacer will prevent that, and making sure the part is the appropriate size to take that into account.

ok......

yep spacer nedds to be just longer than plastic part.
Pop rivets easy to find on ebay, need to find a spacer supplier, I have some here to get us going.

That should do the job. Two things:

The part will need to be made to suit the spacer. You mention 5.5mm OD, but I found this part that has a 5mm OD. I guess I could just make the part to suit 5mm, and it can be drilled out to suit whatever fixing is used.

Secondly, from your photo it looks like the rivet head is wider than the spacer without the washer. Would it work without the washer do you think? Either way, I'll make a small recess, say 0.5mm, in the top of the part to guarantee that the spacer is longer so that the rivet doesn't trap it - what's the OD of an M3 washer?

spacer looks good, same series I think as what I have which has a 3.5 hole and 5.5 dia
3.2 rivet won't slide through a 3.2 hole and drilling it will be a PITA.
3.2 rivet head 6mm dia, not enough I think .
M3 washer 6.8mm dia.

CJH wrote:Would it work without the washer do you think?

Oops - forget that, too early in the day. Obviously the washer holds the plastic piece in place

just measured a 3.2 rivet and it's 3.1 so might work, still looking for the spacer I have here.

itchyfeet wrote: M3 washer 6.8mm dia.

I don't know the meaning of all the 'forms' of metric washers, but I found some form G M3 washers that have a 9mm OD. I'll make the recess in the top of the part to suit that size, just to be on the safe side.

itchyfeet wrote:spacer looks good, same series I think as what I have which has a 3.5 hole and 5.5 dia

...and we could do with a source of these spacers that will do a job lot for less than £1.52 each.

What material can the spacer be made of?

kevtherev wrote:What material can the spacer be made of?

Very few specific requirements I think - needs to resist the compression of a pop rivet, and it would be good if it doesn't rust (although VW's original shoulder rivets seem to rust - maybe that's why they wore out the plastic part). The lateral force from the spring isn't much.

I've ordered some large flange rivets. The flange has a 9.5mm OD, so should be wide enough without a washer I think. I'll measure the rivet diameter when they arrive, to see if they're also 3.1mm and would fit into a 3.2mm spacer tube.

CJH wrote:

itchyfeet wrote:spacer looks good, same series I think as what I have which has a 3.5 hole and 5.5 dia

...and we could do with a source of these spacers that will do a job lot for less than £1.52 each.

18p each at farnell R30-6200814 but It's not like we need lots so ebay is ok I think.

Plastic spacers tend to be bigger diameter so stick with the aluminium or your part will be weaker.

My spacer is actually a wire splice like RS 838 8389 ( not this one but you get the idea) so no use as the outer diameter may not be in good tolerance.