body and interior Vent Window Help .....please

[joysterm]

I am planning to have my vent frames refinished and to do so I  properly it looks like I will have to take them apart. This means drilling out a pair of rivets. The set at the top of the frame are a lesser issue. The concern is the lower set located on the middle section of the window rail.( as pictured) much larger and looks like that are pressed in.

 

My question is has anyone removed these rivets and what  or how did you replace them effectively. Any advise or help would be greatly appreciated before I take them apart/

 

TIA....Mike

[jgerock]

The vent window frame (the main piece) is the one item I didn't take fully apart in my 69. I used the best pieces I could locate along with new rubber and new aluminum glass trim.

 

Not sure if BMW malleable rivets are available but you might try using some meant for the front quarter window hinge on a VW Beetle.  I remember using those when I had my 71/72. Look at VW suppliers such as Wolfsburg West or West Coast Metric.

 

Hard to tell from your picture, but I learned that you need to slide the glass out from its frame so you can remove the frame from the main vent window.  Feel free to ask more questions since I have been thru several sets of these.

[Markster]

I am going to get some rivets from McMaster Carr.  I believe they are aluminum?  either 3 or 3.2mm in diameter and the thickness for the section that holds the top hinge of the vent window is 6.5 mm.  So either stainless or aluminum is my next question?  Anyone know?  Seems like Aluminum because I can scratch the existing rivet.

 

[Markster]

bump

[jgerock]

My advice is to experiment on a sub-par vent window assembly before doing anything to a good one.