Re: Ball joints!!
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Make sure you have the Oval Flat top,and not the round Bubble top,to be original assembly line correct.Also,boxed NOS have the larger holes to accept the replacement service bolts,not for the rivits,as used on the line originally.
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Rick:
Not to step on anyone's toes, but the right rivits are flat head and I've never seen anyone supply the right ones. I'll attach a few photos.
Chevrolet used flat head rivits, installed from the bottom. The "oval" head you see on the top is the result of the rivit set used in riviting. I happen to have a large selection of rivits, so it is not a problem for me to make them right. In NOS ball joints with the large 5/16" hole, I use a 5/16" (as opposed to the orig 1/4") flat head rivit and turn the flat head down to the OD of the 1/4" rivit's head on a lathe. I made a rivit set and hot bucked them in place - it helps to have an extra set of hands here.
Note that the "oval" head in the photos is irregular - not at all like an oval head rivit. That irregularity is a result of the rivit set (the tool that forms the head).
You just can't make 'em look right with the wrong rivits!
Dave
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