8N Fender Skin Attachment Bolts

Ohiohills · Jun 15, 2020

I've purchased a set of undrilled fender skins for my 1948 8N and plan to mount them to the original steel fender frame/stiffener supports. Originally, the
fender skins were riveted to the stiffeners with fairly big rivets (like 3/8" dia.). Since riveting is not in my game plan, I will need to use bolts of some
style ... what have others used as skin-to-stiffener attachment bolts?? Carriage bolts? Hex head bolts? Or, is there a source of some other bolt that would
reflect the original "round head" look?

Gantt · Jun 15, 2020

i would think carriage bolts would do the trick, look more original than bolts

wore out · Jun 15, 2020

I remember back a few years someone posted on here about using Torx or "hex" roundhead screws and soldering the drive bit opening shut.

Sounds like a lot of work, but would look like a rivet when done (which was the whole idea).
Roundhead screws

Ohiohills · Jun 15, 2020

So, this afternoon I identified the bolt hole locations, drilled new holes, and mounted one of the new fender skins to the framework using hex head bolts. It's
functional, but doesn't look very nice.

As an experiment, I took a pair of 3/8" carriage bolts and removed the square shank by first grinding off what I could, then chucking the bolts in the drill press
and filing off the remainder of the shank. They look much better on the fenders than the hex heads!! Rather time consuming to do, but certainly "do-able".
There are a total of ten bolts in each fender, so rather than do all ten, I may just "turn down" the top seven bolts and leave the bottom three as hex heads.

showcrop · Jun 16, 2020

I used carriage bolts. I "squared" the holes in the skin by cutting corners with the little cutting wheel on my Dremel. I dipped the heads of the bolts in phosphoric acid in order to allow the paint to stick.

Lynn Patrick · Jun 16, 2020

Not fender skins, but I have made "rivets" for front bumpers by chucking a bolt in a cordless drill & running it on a running bench grinder to shape them like rivet heads.

graham_in_NJ · Jun 16, 2020

I'm with Showcrop - without the square cutout, the round shank of the "modified" carriage head bolt will likely spin trying to tighten it. And if not, after a few months of moisture, you won't be able to unbolt them. Not that you're likely to, but it removes the possibility of doing so if needed. Especially if they loosen with vibration.

Ohiohills · Jun 16, 2020

You are correct, without the square shank it is somewhat difficult to tighten the "rounded off" carriage bolts; however, for the two that I made, they pulled
fairly tight without spinning, so I'm not too concerned. Also, removal isn't a concern as the skins were originally attached with rivets that proved to be quite
difficult to remove when I disassembled the originals. Plus, the nuts can always be cut off with a wafer wheel if removal is ever necessary.

Royse · Jun 28, 2020

I don't remember the exact size, but I used ones with serrations
on the shaft like a wheel stud instead of a square like carriage bolts.

Here's an example on [b:9b2684d04a]Grainger[/b:9b2684d04a]

Ohiohills · Jun 28, 2020

Ah!! Those ribbed-neck carriage bolts look like a great solution!! Far easier that filing down square necks and still would provide for "holding" the head ends
of the bolts and preventing them from turning.

8N Fender Skin Attachment Bolts

Ohiohills

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Gantt

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wore out

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Ohiohills

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showcrop

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Lynn Patrick

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graham_in_NJ

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Ohiohills

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Royse

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Ohiohills

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