Getting rid of rivets...my way.

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Rivets. I hate them. They probably made sense to the manufacturers who made machines for arcades, but as a home collector, they are not our friends.

I needed/wanted to have my SW cockpit speaker grills powder coated so I had drilled out the rivets.

But now, how to install them back ?

I bought some of these (the one in the middle on top):
inserts.gif


and these:

HT%20Button%20Head.bmp


I chose metric sizes since I live in Europe and those are easier to handle for me.

Pics coming up...
 
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The key to success in using this solution is that _ANY_ metal rests of the former rivets MUST be removed. I drilled them out. IF YOU OWN A SW COCKPIT REMOVE THE MARQUEE BEFORE DOING THIS, ELSE YOU MAY DAMAGE IT WHEN DRILLING THE HOLES OF THE SEAT SPEAKERS !

Start, you can see some of the metal "leftovers":
web.jpg


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Once drilled out/removed the metal, you simply screw in the "inserts" with a hex-tool. Be sure to buy the inserts types without the "edge" so you can screw them in far enough to make them "sink" under the surface a little bit, so that the grill will sit flush.
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Be sure to screw in the inserts as STRAIGHT as possible so the bolts will go in straight too

Replace the grill and inserted the bolts:
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Done:
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One hole was a bit too big after I removed the metal (first try). So for this hole I took a plug instead. Make sure the "head" is sunk so the grill will wit flush. I was very lucky as the hole was "exactly" tight enough for the bolt.

web.jpg
 
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Very nice! That's one of those 'why hasn't anyone thought of that before? ' ideas.
 
The ones I drilled out of my Tempest speaker grill also had a large holes left. I used some of those plastic screw anchors to fill the large hole and give something nice for the small screw to grab to.
 
Very nice! That's one of those 'why hasn't anyone thought of that before? ' ideas.

Thanks, yeah, well it's very simple but I had never seen those "inserts" before until I saw them on this site: www.modelfixings.co.uk

I also ordered them there, great on-line shop in the UK. Had ordered all my SW yoke screws from them too, impossible to find on mainland Europe in small quantities.

Very low shipping costs. I know you can probably get better prices if you buy in bulk, but if you only need a couple.....and it's very convenient :)
 
My SW cockpit has one of the speaker grilles removed and I'm building a couple of other atari cabinets, so this interests me.

I've been undecided on this for a long time.. .I've searched some online catalogs for an exact match for the rivets, but come up empty. IF I could buy some, I'd probably reuse, but there's a reason I'd be a bit afraid to.

On my MC cabaret project, I'd have to reattach the marquee with rivets. I'd be afraid that in doing that, I'd crack the plexi.

I'd actually decided that using those hex screws, while it doesn't appear correct, is probably the way to go. I think I'd end up doing that. Nice that they are removable and you have to look hard to notice that those aren't the original rivets.
 
Can you please post the specs for the screws? Do these match the screws Atari used exactly? Also, I noticed that they utilized coarse and fine thread of the same size screw. Which is this?

thanks for all the info!
 
You're a cheater, you know... :D

That is an awesome solution. I will be using this in the future for sure!
 
As mentioned, I chose metric sizes, so definitely not original Atari spec, but then again, it's not original anyway....

OK here we go:

www.modelfixings.co.uk partnrs:

Here's my order details (nr. of parts based on 4 speaker grills, 4 holes per grill):

Product : Quantity : Price
MF-TN-04/20 M4 Plain Threaded Inserts (pack of 20) : 1 : 3.50
MF-BH47 M4 x 20 HT Button Head Screws (pack of 10) : 2 : 1.15

Subtotal : 4.50
Delivery : 2.00
Tax VAT : 1.30
TOTAL : 7.80

(Prices in UK pounds).
 
Can you please post the specs for the screws? Do these match the screws Atari used exactly? Also, I noticed that they utilized coarse and fine thread of the same size screw. Which is this?

thanks for all the info!

Well the button head screws look like many screws Atari used. Again, they're metric so not "really" Atari.
Course and fine threads ?? Pffff, another weird imperial system thing....;) ;) ;)

The metric system (AFAIK) has only one kind of thread...

EDIT: If you mean the screws that I got for my SW yoke, then YES of course those _were_ to original spec and thus imperial sized. They even added a certain size to their program on my request. I think one screw was a bit longer than Atari spec, but this worked fine in the application...
 
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As mentioned, I chose metric sizes, so definitely not original Atari spec, but then again, it's not original anyway....

OK here we go:

www.modelfixings.co.uk partnrs:

Here's my order details (nr. of parts based on 4 speaker grills, 4 holes per grill):

Product : Quantity : Price
MF-TN-04/20 M4 Plain Threaded Inserts (pack of 20) : 1 : 3.50
MF-BH47 M4 x 20 HT Button Head Screws (pack of 10) : 2 : 1.15

Subtotal : 4.50
Delivery : 2.00
Tax VAT : 1.30
TOTAL : 7.80

(Prices in UK pounds).

Uhhhhhhh....only now I notice.....I got a good deal there ! 3.50 + 2x1.15 is 5.80 in my book........

O well....lots of advertising done here ! ;)

Oh and they're a great source for circlips and E-clips too:
http://www.modelfixings.co.uk/circlips.htm
 
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... Course and fine threads ?? Pffff, another weird imperial system thing....;) ;) ;) ...

NOT SO! There are different thread "pitches" in metric screws, as well. ;)

But yeah, the names "Coarse" and "Fine" might be Imperial nicknames. But they just explain the difference. I have ordered both coarse and fine metric sizes before for my motorcycles...
 
NOT SO! There are different thread "pitches" in metric screws, as well. ;)

But yeah, the names "Coarse" and "Fine" might be Imperial nicknames. But they just explain the difference. I have ordered both coarse and fine metric sizes before for my motorcycles...

Ah....so even at 43, I still learn every day. I bet that one of the thread "sizes" is definitely "standard" though because I never heard about anything else... :)

So you ride a Euro bike ? BMW ? Something Italian ?
 
From the thread on the Star Trek Captiain's Chair restore in this forum, note the following link to McMaster-Carr:

Hex Drive with Flange?

Is the 'hex drive with flange' part picture on the top right a close match to the insert pictured at the top of this thread?
 
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