Close quarters pop riveting

I have to pop rivet the attach angles to the tank baffle. I find that my pull riveter will not clear the body of the attach angle so that I can put in the temporary pop rivets. I have read that some have ground the nose of their pull riveter some to get into close quarters. I'm wondering if I can do this with mine without ruining it. It is hard to tell from looking how much I can grind down the nose.

My pull riveter is from Cleveland and is PowerLink 30. Has anyone ground the nose down on this model?

Michael-
I wouldn't do this with an expensive pop-riveter. Just go down to Harbor Freight and get a cheap one for $3.00 to grind down if you find it to be necessary. My Harbor Freight puller (the only one I have) is going strong and the riveting is virtually complete.

Go down to the hardware store and buy the cheapest "folded metal" pop rivet puller you can find. These will get you into very tight corners.
On my bi-plane, I had to pull lots of rivets that were at the bottom of a 5/8" channel. This was the only thing I found that would work.

Master mechanic pop riveter from Ace Hardware

Michael,
I agree with Mel...I was pondering this also and went thru my old toolbox and found a Master Mechaic brand from Ace harware or True Value.... folded metal pop riveter that I have had for probably 30 years and I didnt have to grind it at all...It just barely fit against the angle but did work just fine..It is now on my peg board of tools. I bet anything that you can still purchase the same one at a local hardware store and it will probably be about $10.
Good luck.
Jim
7A Wings (Still)...I think I'm the slowest wing builder in history

[email protected] said:

I have to pop rivet the attach angles to the tank baffle. I find that my pull riveter will not clear the body of the attach angle so that I can put in the temporary pop rivets. I have read that some have ground the nose of their pull riveter some to get into close quarters. I'm wondering if I can do this with mine without ruining it. It is hard to tell from looking how much I can grind down the nose.

My pull riveter is from Cleveland and is PowerLink 30. Has anyone ground the nose down on this model?

Click to expand...

Check this thread - lots of ways to skin the cat - and the beauty of the VAF

www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=35534

Riveting in Tight Places

Try this link at EAA, it shows several Videos.
One is for riveting in tight places.
It has a video on Pop Riveting Tools and Modifications.

http://www.eaa.org/video/homebuilders.html[/URL]

Mel said:

Go down to the hardware store and buy the cheapest "folded metal" pop rivet puller you can find....

Click to expand...

Agreed. Mine was an Arrow brand that I bought at Home Depot a while back (have not seen it there lately though).

Here's a photo of it.