FJ40 Fiberglass rivet tool

[bikersmurf]

Temper with oil not water other wise it will be too brittle. Some old motor oil will work fine.

How hot would you recommend? I've still got a lot more to learn... As I'm sure others have.

 

[shipmag]

To heat treat you want the netal at its critical temperature. That temperature is usually red hold prior to melting. The speed at which you cool determines the harness. Water quenching achieves the hardest but makes the metal hard like a file. Drop a file and they can shatter. Oil quenching is a slower cooling rate and its still hard but not brittle. Air cooling will make the metal soft and easy to machine. When i say quenching the oil has to be in a big enough container to submerge the heated end of the metal. Not just spray it with oil. There are more technical ways to describe it but the intent is not to give an entire lesson in metalurgy. Let me know if you need more explained.

 

[runningdaddy]

I hate to ask the dumb question, but has anyone used blind rivets to tackle this task?
Is everyone using the solid rivet to keep the original look or is the blind rivet not the right tool?

 

[Weber Sarge]

It needs to be a solid rivet - blind rivets will not have the same strength and lose their "set" after a bit of time/flexing . Not to mention there is that hole left in them with the nail in it...
Sarge

 

[Trollhole]

This is what I do and it works really well. I glue the top down with 3m 8115 adhesive. It's not cheap but it is a permanent fix. No worry about leaks. Unless I have a customer who just absolutely wants the rivets then I'll do it. But it's a days work to do it right. Then I use 3m 08307 to level everything out. Its about two tubes for each process. Material cost is about 200. Take about 2 hours to do vs 8-14.

Hard tops are a pain in the ass. BY the time you have a shop do it right you could have bought 2 soft tops. And if you have metal repair on the bottom edge everything is out the window. I've charged 6k on a top before getting it right. MOst are in the 4k range with a new gutter.

 

[gifu]

you glue the fiberglass to the drip rail??!! whoa. Mind=blown
can you elaborate? how do you prep the fiberglass? how do you prep the driprail? Do you paint the driprail first?

 

[Trollhole]

You cant paint unless you use a good epoxy primer. No real prep to the fiberglass except getting all the old adhesive/sealer off it.

 

[jestlurnin]

@Trollhole whats your method of removing old sealer from the drip rail when refurbing a hard top?

Fixing up my hardtop is going to be an upcoming project and I'm worried about Fing up the fiberglass trying to get the old sealer out.

 

[midknightc3]

You cant paint unless you use a good epoxy primer. No real prep to the fiberglass except getting all the old adhesive/sealer off it.

What about POR-15 on the drip rail prior to gluing? I assume that would be a strong enough bond to the steel to then hold with the 08115 without issue? I had been planning on riveting and already have all the tools, but if gluing is just as strong that seems so much easier!

Clark

 

[midknightc3]

@Trollhole , any thoughts on this?

 

[Trollhole]

@Trollhole , any thoughts on this?

We have only used an epoxy primer before gluing them together. And that's a 2 part epoxy primer.

 

[Trollhole]

@Trollhole whats your method of removing old sealer from the drip rail when refurbing a hard top?

Fixing up my hardtop is going to be an upcoming project and I'm worried about Fing up the fiberglass trying to get the old sealer out.

We use a really fine low speed wire wheel. I also have some synthetic bristle wheels that we use. Sometimes we just scrape it out.