Please school me on swivel rivets

[Wamsutta]

There's this mailbox I told a lady I would fix for her. The little door that you lift up to insert your mail has had one rivet come out on the right side, so now the door hangs from the rivet on the left side. The left side rivet is on its way out too. These are those hollow pop rivets we've seen on stuff like drill index boxes that allow the lid to open and close. I need a source for the rivets and the install tool.

The mailbox sheet metal is real thin like 20 gauge and the holes are somewhere around the size of a #10 machine screw. The rivet would need to go through both pieces of sheet metal and allow them to rotate so that the door can open and close. Gravity closes the door. Google is no help. When I search for swivel rivets, it thinks I'm looking for a rivet tool with a swivel head.

 

[cvairwerks]

Change over to a #10 screw, two washers and a locknut. Just don't tighten down too far and let the door flap.

 

[The Cobbler]

pop rivet will work fine. use a back up washer on the inside.

 

[rust in the eye]

pop rivet will work fine. use a back up washer on the inside.

Yeah, another rivet as described and maybe put a shim that could be removed in place while fastening the rivet leaving clearance for the door to swing freely.

 

[Beerhippie]

Really? A replacement is $15-20. I like fixing and reusing as much as practical, but you've got to figure your time is worth more than that.

Or, maybe you're just looking for an excuse to buy another tool?

 

[Wamsutta]

Change over to a #10 screw, two washers and a locknut. Just don't tighten down too far and let the door flap.

I thought about that. There's barely enough room for a #10 jam nut. A nylon lock nut might be too thick but would be ideal if it would fit in there.

Really? A replacement is $15-20. I like fixing and reusing as much as practical, but you've got to figure your time is worth more than that.

Or, maybe you're just looking for an excuse to buy another tool?

This kind of stuff is outside my comfort zone. I'm far more comfortable with mechanical stuff and welding material together.

I've never replaced a mailbox with a chute that goes through the wall. I think the mail lands on the floor inside the house.

I did see the two nails one on each side of the chute that holds the chute in. The nails are right smack by the door that I need rivets for.

I'm not very exited about a rivet install tool. Especially a tool I may use one time and that's it.

The lady says that when the mailman leaves the mailbox door hanging by the left corner, mosquitos enter her house through the mailbox and bite her.

 

[whateg01]

Or, maybe you're just looking for an excuse to buy another tool?

Maybe trying to get to use a tool

 

[The Cobbler]

very easily replaced . the 4 screws removes the outer flap, then put on a new one

 

[whateg01]

This kind of stuff is outside my comfort zone. I'm far more comfortable with mechanical stuff and welding material together.

Why did you commit to doing something you don't have a clue how to do? Also, this is a mechanical thing. Literally.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

They most likely aren't pop rivets. What they usually are is semi tubular rivets. There are different types rivet squeezers and punches to install them.

 

[gahrajmahal]

Your examples show four screws on the outside holding the door on. That would make the repair easy. Is her mailbox door held on by four screws from the inside? Or possibly two or more screws at an angle once you open the door?

Looking at your rig in your Avitar I’m Surprised you don’t already own a pop rivet gun. I thought that was a requirement for every GJ member to join. Here’s mine.



And when I worked for U-Haul as a young man we were all the time repairing the van bodies of the trucks. Here is my tool box bottom I built on my lunch breaks from old van body panels and a stick or two of 1 x 1 square tube. All attached with pop rivets.