I'll be removing my front door carriers soon to fit some sound deadening, and being a post facelift I'm obviously faced with drilling out the rivets.

Just wondering what people have done in terms of refitting them? I'm looking at rivnuts currently. Just wondering if there's any of method people have used to to secure them?

Thanks.

Why not just use new rivets?

I guess you could use rivnuts and bolt them. But you would need to drill the holes out to a suitable size, not sure of there is enough metal to do that.

I was hoping for something that enabled me to remove and re-fit more easily at a future date. It's technically not essential though.

How big are rivets in comparison to the rivets used? I've found M4 rivnuts which require a 6mm hole.

Are you going to be able to get the torque on an M4 bolt though to seal the door?

Standard bolts are M6.

The rivits are huge and so are the holes they go into....

You'll need a 8mm drill to get them out iirc

Then its about impossible to get a rivit gun big enough to fit the rivits (available through vw)

So what i did was drill new 6mm holes around an inch away from the standard fixing and rivited it using smaller 6mm rivits

I don't know, if there's doubt then maybe I should use a different method.

Would a standard pop riveter be sufficient for this? And do you know what size rivets are used, and what size drill bit you need to drill them out?

Standard pop riviter has no chance!!

The originals are massive, skoda have a special riviter....

I used maybe an 8mm to drill the standard ones

Then 6mm rivits to refix in different position, 6mm holes drilled

Just about any sharp drill bit will get them out, 5-6mm seems to work best for me.

You will need a heavy duty riveter, concetina type works well although access isn't great on the inner rivets. I've got an air riveter which makes the job a lot easier.

Ger the rivets from the dealer, then you know they are the right spec and it won't leak.

What about one of these bad boys?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/17-CHROME-LONG-ARM-TWO-HANDLED-POP-RIVET-GUN-NEW-/310371340256?pt=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item484392cfe0#ht_3305wt_1144

If not, then maybe a rid nut isn't such bad idea as I can't be looking at air riveters. An M6 riv nut will require a 9.1mm hole.

Remember youll need a tool to crush the riv nuts up properly to.

But yeah that riviter would do.

Yeh I've been looking at a tool for that.

Well If that riveter will do and I get OEM rivets then I'll do it that way.

One question left though, it's all well getting OEM rivets, but I still need to know what size they are so I know whether or not the rivet tool is compatible with them! Is there a way of working it out?

I can't remember what the inside of the door looks like on a fabia? But bear in mind that riv nuts can only really be used on a perfectly flat surface.. When you drill out old rivets you only need to go through the head till it breaks off then just knock the rest through with a punch.

You could always use speed bolts, basically it is a self tapping screw that drills its own hole, you just hold it into the existing rivet hole then wind them in with a battery drill, then you can remove them at a later date if you need to.

Self drilling speed bolt.. I buy these from my local bodywork supplies place, could a good solution for you to avoid you buying a rivet gun which you probably never ever use again.

...Ger the rivets from the dealer, then you know they are the right spec and it won't leak.

+1

They are 6.4mm standard length rivets. Part code is N91078801.

I think I'm going to go with rivets now. I've thought about it, and the problem with self tapping is that you can only really remove them a couple of times, then you're in risk of knackering the metal. And you're left with a big hole that can't be riveted or self tapped. Plus as recommend, rivet ensure proper torque.

But I'm still unsure of the size of OEM rivets. One person has mentioned around 6mm, and now 4.8mm. Does anyone know for sure?

The rivet gun I've listed comes with 3.2mm, 4mm, and 4.8mm.

And there's this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HEAVY-DUTY-LAZY-TONG-HAND-RIVETER-RIVET-GUN-POP-RIVETER-/270669622993?pt=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item3f052aaed1#ht_2301wt_1144

This comes with 3.2mm, 4mm, 4.8mm, 6mm, 6.8mm, so is maybe the better option?

I'm also concerned about accessing the rivets close to the door hinge with either of the above two.

Has anyone used either of the above two style riveters and can comment about access to the harder to reach ones?

If you don't have access to an air powered or hydraulic riveter, then a lazy tongue riveter will be fine.

To rivet successfully you need the right rivets, to be able to hold the head perpendicular to the hole and apply forward pressure to the rivet whilst the mandrel is pulled (handle is pushed).

If you don't have access to an air powered or hydraulic riveter, I suggest you get one of these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LONGACRE-Hand-Riveter-Pop-Rivet-Riveting-Tool-/120633534417?pt=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item1c1651a7d1

It's not a lazy tong riveter. It's a well designed traditional hand riveter. Cheaper ones just don't work well with 4.8mm (3/16") rivets. To rivet successfully you need the right rivets, to be able to hold the head perpendicular to the hole and apply forward pressure to the rivet whilst the mandrel is pulled (handle is squeezed).

And you're sure this will give me the leverage to do the job properly? forgive my doubtfulness, it just looks the same as a standard pop riveter to me!

And you're sure this will give me the leverage to do the job properly? forgive my doubtfulness, it just looks the same as a standard pop riveter to me!

Yes, it will pop the rivets easily.

The big advantage of the lazy long type is that the riveter pushes the rivet whilst pulling the mandrel. With 'standard' type you have to apply some forward pressure to the head.

Ok cool, I'll get one of these then.

Can you comment on the size of the OEM rivets used? As I'd like to know whether I need to purchase an additional nozzle for the riveter or not.

Ok cool, I'll get one of these then.

Can you comment on the size of the OEM rivets used? As I'd like to know whether I need to purchase an additional nozzle for the riveter or not.

It comes with 4 nozzles, one of which will take the mandrel of the correct rivets.

On your recommendation I'm buying one!

Thanks

EDIT: I didn't.

OK, when I said they were 4.8mm I was wrong. Just had one in for a new regulator and they are they are 6.4mm standard length rivets. Part code is N91078801.

I've done my best to hide all the evidence of my mistake :)

Thanks for following up mate.

I've ordered on of these for future reference:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HEAVY-DUTY-LAZY-TONG-HAND-RIVETER-RIVET-GUN-POP-RIVETER-/270669622993?pt=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item3f052aaed1#ht_2301wt_1144

And have ordered new rivets from Skoda. For some reason the rivets that hold the carrier to the door and the ones that hold the speaker surround have a different Part Number. I'll confirm if they're different when I get them.

Yes the carrier rivets and speaker rivets are different, that is correct.

The carrier rivets have a very heavy duty core (mandrel?). It takes a fair pull to get them to break off, these are designed to break at a desired torque which is correct to seal the carrier, hence the swap from bolts to rivets. I had a Snap On riveter that broke, since upgraded to the HD long arm one, this has the right size adapter to fit the rivets.

Lets hope the lazy tongue riveter I've ordered is going to be sufficient!

I used rivnuts, did the trick