RobbW wrote:While we're on the hunt for the snap rivets for the center console, does anyone know where to get more of the snap rivets for the door panels? I inadvertently broke two or three of them while trying to pop the rear driver side door back on. The panel, so far, stays on fine with one remaining rivet and the three screws. However, I'd like to have some of the plastic rivets on hand in case I notice the panel starting to get loose.
Following the advice here, I used a punch to push the center pin in to release the rivet - That did the trick, but it also broke one leg of the rivet off on three of them, so they weren't reusable
The solution for snap rivets is . . . .
NAPA! - I went there with one of my broken rivets and the counter guy went in the back and came out with a book. I guess you could call it a book, as it had many pages and on each page there were probably 50 different snap rivets clear coated to the page for use on car interiors. The actual rivets, not pictures of them, and the book had 12 or 15 pages - It was literally a foot tall when he laid it on the counter to open it
There are many different types and sizes and our cars use the most useless of the bunch, if you're judging by how reusable they are. Two of the better types use a more logical way to spread the pins than the little impossible to remove pins like ours have. One type uses a little push cap which you can easily pry open and reuse as many times as needed. The type I bought uses a matching black nylon screw which you screw down flush to lock the rivet in place. Unscrew it 8 or 10 turns and you can use the screw to pull the rivet out of the hole. You can put it in and take it out dozens of times without fear of breaking anything and it's quick and easy to do
I didn't spend a lot if time going through the book looking for the best match. The ones I bought have a little longer shank on them than needed, so they don't lock down tight like they would if the shank was a bit shorter . . . . but they work fine. The ones I got are NAPA #665-2399 and they were about $5 for a pack of seven
My NAPA store seemed to have most of the things in the book in stock - We looked at 4 or 5 different ones that didn't seem quite right and never ran across anything he didn't have in stock
Hope this helps someone down the line - Try NAPA if you're looking for oddball parts like these. I went to AutoZone and Advance Auto parts first and didn't find anything even close
Don