Replacing Pop Rivet in Door Actuator

[eyal8r]

ok guys-
I figured out why my driver's side door lock isn't working on my 2000 Mountaineer. The actuator works fine- moves up/down, etc. However, the rivet that attaches the body of the actuator to the door itself has broken off. So when I fire the actuator, the entire thing moves up/down, instead of the arm/lock moving up/down.

The head of the rivet is sheered off. There's a piece of it still in the actuator that I can't see to get out. The entire actuator is in behind the sheet metal of the door, wedged between the door frame and the track for the glass window. There's some play in it- but not much. I can't turn the actuator to face the holes so I can have a better go at it. I'm about to burn the truck down, I'm soo frustrated.

So- here's my questions.

1) How can I get the shaft of the rivet out of the body of the actuator?

2) I've never used a rivet gun before- assuming I can fix #1 above, how do I re-rivet this back to the door to hold it in place? I'd have to hold the body of the actuator with one hand, and try to rivet with the other. I don't even know how a rivet gun works- any insights before I beat the hell out of this door?

Thanks!

 

[hunterdan]

I had this happen to me. Your best bet is to get the actuator out, which is a matter of bending and twisting the unit and your arms until it happens. I ended up using a large self tapping screw after I removed it and drilled out the remaining bit of the rivet. You could probably bolt it on too. The head of the screw was large and never contacted the door.

 

[eyal8r]

I'm almost thinking of throwing a ton of JB Weld on the thing and gluing it to the door frame. What do you think? I can always break it off if the actuator goes out in the future...
Your thoughts?

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Just drill out the remaining rivet and use a bolt and nut to hold it in there. Works much better. Forget a rivet gun, bolts work fine.

 

[eyal8r]

Right- but that would mean taking the whole unit out of the door, etc. It's a pain, I can't even imagine trying to re-install the thing. I already JB Welded it on, waiting for it to setup now. I think it might work. I'll test it in a bit and let you know. If not, then I'll be yanking the damn thing out of there and trying to drill it out. I have no idea how to take it out and put it back in there- looks like it'd be a nightmare...

 

[Blee1099]

You'll need a heavy duty rivet gun for the actuator, I had one break on my old 97.. Had to borrow/use Monmix's rivet gun since mine didn't have the capacity to do the job.

 

[RangerX]

Just drill out the remaining rivet and use a bolt and nut to hold it in there. Works much better. Forget a rivet gun, bolts work fine.

This is what I did too, and it's been fine for years now.

 

[eyal8r]

ok- I drilled it out while it was still in the door. How EXACTLY did you get a bolt/nut in there? I assume you put the bolt in backwards, with the head next to the actuator, and the nut in the door jam? There's just no room to work to hold the nut in place the other way around. What a nightmare this is. The nuts/bolts I have are too long and stick out too far. I can't believe I have to go to Home Depot for one bolt/nut...
Ideas?

 

[hunterdan]

Keep the head of the bolt on the outside. You should be able to get in there with some kind of wrench. Just drill it out, put a bolt in and reach in and try to find it. I have big hands and was still able to take care of this. You got the hardest part done. I was unable to drill the hole out with it in the door. The hard part was getting it out.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Just use the shortest bolt you can get- some hardware stores have 1/4" bolts that are 1/2" or less in length, just right for what you are doing.

 

[eyal8r]

Well, there's not much room in there between the actuator itself, and, the bracket that is attached to it. My fingers barely squeeze between the bracket and actuator- there's no way I can hold a nut in there at the same time. I'll try a wrench and see if it'll hold it without dropping the nut...

 

[eyal8r]

Yeah, there's no way I can get a wrench up in there, let alone my fingers. Here's what my last ditch effort is... I'm JB Welding the nut to the inside of the bracket on the actuator. I'm HOPING that will hold it good enough to get a bolt through it and tightened down. In theory, it'll work. I'll keep you posted...

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Either that or use some tape and tape the nut to the wrench or use some grease to hold the nut in the open end.

 

[eyal8r]

Yup- that's what I did. I AM A GOD! SERIOUSLY, A FREAKIN STUD, I HAVE TO SAY! Yeah, it worked. I had to JB Weld the nut to the INSIDE of that bracket- holding it in place with an open end wrench long enough to setup. I threaded the bolt through to make sure it was lined up right, and let it setup. I ended up needing a longer bolt- but found one with the same threads. It worked perfectly. YAHOO!!! That just saved me HUNDREDS of dollars! Now let's just hope that actuator lasts a long time...