MTFCA Forum

Hello fellow Model T-ers,

Yesterday, Saint Westminster helped me replace the six brass solid rivets in my 1911 steering column cup without removing it from the car. After and Before pictures below.

Step 1; With all innards removed except for the steering shaft head, we drilled out only 3 of the loose rivets (every other one) using 3 progressively larger drill bits and being very carful not to damage the gear cup. We got the final shards out with a appropriately sized punch.

Step 2; We slightly enlarged the cup’s rivet holes to a size 1/1000 smaller than the “oversized” rivets that I got from Chaffins Garage. This drilling absorbed the oval shape rivet hole deformity caused by decades of back and forth steering sheer forces. We finished these holes with a slight countersink flare to accommodate the spreading of the rivet foots. Otherwise, such flattening of the rivet foots inside the steering gear cup will interfere with the steering shaft head.

Step 3; Using a C clamp, we pressed the oversized rivets into the freshly enlarged holes. We actually did one individual completely first to firmly lock (line up) the other holes before drilling.

Step 3; Note: Remember that, at this point, we are only working on every other rivet. The other 3 originals remain in place to keep the gear cup firmly attached to the steering column.
Saint Westminster fabricated a custom rivet hammer bit (pictured below) that fit the oversized rivet heads perfectly and he then bent (off-set) that bit so that it could make contact with the rivet heads through the throttle and spark lever assembly.
He then turned the end of a piece of heavy steel bar down to a nub so that it could make contact with the foot of the rivets inside the steering gear cup and between the shaft head’s gear posts. This was our 10lbs backing “buck” which served to flatten the rivets into the countersunk cup holes.
Then, I pressed the nub of this heavy buck firmly against the foot of each rivet inside the cup while Saint Westminster ran his pneumatic hammer gun against the head …smashing, one by one, theses 3 initial rivets firmly into place.

Step 4; We repeated the above steps on the other 3 rivets. However, one of the six rivet holes had worn to an oval larger than Chaffins oversized rivets would snuggly fit so, for that one hole, we drilled a larger “rounding hole” and Saint Westminster turned a custom XXL rivet from a piece of brass bar (pictured below).

Step 5; Using a Dremel Tool with micro milling head bit, we smoothed down any part of the smashed rivet foots inside the cup that we felt might interfere with the steering shaft head.

Step 6; We thoroughly cleaned out the steering gear cup and the shaft head with compressed air, a pen magnet, brake cleaner, and micro screwdriver wrapped with paper towel and replaced the gears, and the steering wheel. Then we admired a rock solid assembly that just that morning was so worn out that the car was unsafe to drive.

Step 7; I will be sculpting (dressing up) the rivet heads with a Dremel dental tool today.

FORMER THREAD:
Does anyone know of someone who has experience with ‘re-solid-riveting’ brass gear cases at the steering wheel end of a steering column? Mine is not safe and I have been told that I should not attempt this challenge myself. Therefore, I would like to hire someone who might be willing to do it for me. The column that I need refreshed is pictured below.

Thank you in advance for any leads that you might give me.

Under the hood

Steve, yours has already been pounded on. The rivet heads are round and brass in a standard application. The bullet head nails securing the throttle arm are another indication that the column has been apart. To do a proper job, the column needs to come apart again so you can isolate the gearcase .
When the steel rivets are removed you may well find that the holes have been enlarged somewhat by the treatment they have suffered. Custom brass rivets may be called for.
The two pieces of the gearcase need to be thoroughly cleaned down and the mating surfaces heavily tinned for soldering. I bolt the two pieces together and then heat them to sweat the solder together, making one solid piece. Then it can be re-riveted.
Others may add steps to the process.

Allan from down under.

Inside the gear case.

Making progress.

Steve, check the fit of your rivets in the housing. Too loose may mean you need custom made items. After tinning and sweating, the round head of the rivet needs to be supported in a buck with a suitable rounded recess, and the riveting is done in the gearcase. it would be a good idea to clean up the inside of the case and possibly make the countersinks a little deeper so that the rivet has more hold. Then the riveted end needs to be finished flush with the base of the gearcase chamber. Do not skip the soldering/sweating step. If you do you are relying solely on the rivets for the integrity of the steering. If they fail, you lose steering control.

Allan from down under.

Steven, You found a great guy and it looks like you're getting a fantastic job done on the steering box! Thanks for the great pictures and please post more as you continue the restoration.

Custom fabricated off-set hammer-gun bit and 20lbs backing buck sculpted to reach the back of the rivets without removing the steering shaft. Made one XXL rivet from scratch to fit a particularly worn out hole.

Post some pictures showing how your rivet set and backing are set up, it sounds interesting.

It’s funny how much trouble we go to to avoid removing one more part. The steering shaft comes out easily. As mentioned, you need to clean the heck out of it to solder the case. I’m not sure a quality repair can be done with it even still attached to the mast. But then as a professional mechanic, I’ve always had to stand behind my work.

Andy

Steve, you have done the best you can without removing and dis-assembling the case from the column. However, for the holes to be oval in shape, the two pieces of the gearcase had to be working against one another. What you have now is a unit which relies solely on the rivets remaining tight to keep the two pieces solidly connected. Splitting them, cleaning and re-soldering to make a solid joint has been skipped. You should keep a keen eye on you repair down the track. Any looseness will need addressing again.

Allan from down under.

I, too, would like to see a few photos of the offset rivet former in use. Showing the air hammer in position if you can, please. After-the-fact photos would be fine. Fan hubs are another spot where rivets are not directly accessible, and I'm really curious about how you got the hammer driving force aligned to the axis of the rivet.

I appreciate these how-to threads. They have helped me a lot! Cheers, Bill

Gary and Bill,

The guy who helped me do this is traveling for the next two weeks, however, he will be at our Model T Beach Day Pot Luck in Newport Beach on August 28th. I will ask him to bring the fabricated hammer tool bit and the buck so that I may take photos of them and post them here.

In any case, those photos will show the custom turned hammer gun bit that he is heating with a torch (photo above) bent at its impact end to attack the heads of the rivets through the throttle rod and spark rod assembly. The opposing "buck" was simply a heavy chunk of steel rod turned down on one end so that it could fit in-between the nodes of the steering shaft head and onto the rivet foots inside the gear cup. It weighed about 15 lbs. There is a photo of the freshly prepared rivet holes between the steering shaft head nodes above.

Pictures of custom tooling