At some point on either this site or HybridZ someone mentioned finding a near exact (if not 100% the same) part available at a national hardware store for an incredibly cheap price. Leave it to me to lose the hyperlink.

Lowe's Hardware, go to the Specialty Fasteners Section. You'll find a bunch of different diameters, lengths and colors.

The biggest reason the rivet is a 2 stage process, is that the plastic panels and the car aren't EXACT matches to each other. Using a hard fixed screw or mounting point would give you a world of trouble trying to get everything lined up exactly right the next time you disassembled.

The best alternative solution that I read about, but have not seen nor tried, was to use a nail or screw as pointed out by Tomohawk and mlc240z. I did find some nails at the hardware store which held some promise, but I cannot recall details about them other than the shaft diameter of the nail was just slightly smaller than the head, while the head had a very softly contoured radius to it's edge. Very similar to a ball that's been squeezed almost flat.

To my eyes it looked as though you could almost pull the nail out with your fingernails, or a pair of needle-nose pliers.

Another friend of mine, when I commented on that concept (this was years ago on another board), he mentioned those copper studs used in bodyworking to pull dents out of sheet metal. The system these are used on uses an arc-welder to "pop"-weld this stud onto the face of the sheet metal, whereupon a slide hammer grips the body of the stud and can pull on the face of the metal.

If someone finds the information for the nail or if the copper studs would work, please let me know as I now have a second Z to play with.

Enrique

Those small rounded heads are on finishing nails. Lowe's, Home Depot or any hardware store carries them. Sizes 4d and 6d are way too loose. 8d is close, but 10d might fit the best. Had 4,6,8 in the house, have to buy 10d to try.

Snip the shaft to length and paint ends. PITA but definitely a cheaper alternative to buying rivets just to replace lost pins. You can buy 2-3 pounds of nails for the same price as a bag of 10 rivets.

The biggest reason the rivet is a 2 stage process, is that the plastic panels and the car aren't EXACT matches to each other. Using a hard fixed screw or mounting point would give you a world of trouble trying to get everything lined up exactly right the next time you disassembled.

I disagree with this. The reason is that the holes on the panels are large enough to allow some adjusting, even if they were being screwed down. I've been able to shift the panels around a little with the rivets in, which would have about the same size shank as a screw.

Here is an EASY to do and hard to see alternative.

1) Super Glue the pins into the heads of a set of rivets.The rivets are the only sacrifice in this mounting alternative

2) Cut the heads of the rivets off flush.

3) Clean the back of the head of the rivet, and the mounting location on the interior panel with alcohol or laquer thinner and allow to fully dry.

4)Use a daub of silicone adhesive to glue the head of the rivet to the appropriate place on the panel-the silicone can be removed easily and with no damage to the interior panel if you ever want to undo this mounting!

5) Go to Office Depot or the like and buy a roll of matched INDUSTRIAL VELCRO.

6) Find suitable mounting surfaces in the mounting location.

7) Clean both surfaces with denatured alcohol or Laquer Thinner, and allow it to dry fully.

8) Apply the velcro to each surface and let the adhesive set overnight with out placing the two panels together.

9) The next morning place your panels.

When you are through, you will have an easily removeable interior panel that looks factory installed, and better than that, will not squeek no matter how big a bump you go over.

Notes:

Most of the panels are offset in several places to accomodate the rivets in the first place, and there are ample locations where the steel od an adjascent panel is exactly the right distance from the trim panel for using the velcro. I have been using this situation for several years in the hot Savannah sun, and have yet to have a panel (or a strip of velcro) come loose. Use just enough Velcro to do the job, and you will not risk damaging the panels when you go to remove them.

I came up with this when evaluating insullation in the body panels. I have used it on both sides of the hatch, the dog legs, and the quarter window frames. I even had velcro strips added to the luggage straps to make them easier to deal with, and to get away from the corroded buckles. No one notices unless you point it out-which is what I am after.

Will

First of all I can't figure what you guys are doing that you are having to remove these panels all the time, but anyway, get a catalog from Auto Body Toolmart, www.autobodytoolmart.com

They have a couple of pages of fasteners, some that are as cheap as $7.95 for 100 that look like they would work if you don't care if they exactly match original equipment, which does seem to be the point of this thread... cheap and works....

Instead of velcro™, I'd suggest using Superlock™ from RadioShack, et al. It has interlocking knobs that work like velcro, and the tensile strength is 5psi! one sq. inch on each rivet spot ( or end) would hold the panel BETTER than ol' velcro

fwiw

240 plastic is too old and thin for that unless you are really carefull-been there, done that-have cracks to prove it!

Will

Afte I win the Mega-Lotto , I'll open a small shop to make glass moulds of the plastic panels & light lenses

IGTP! I'll post an update!

Will

Afte I win the Mega-Lotto , I'll open a small shop to make glass moulds of the plastic panels & light lenses

Don't bother doing this for 240Z's. These parts are already available.

I bought a 100 of the real rivits last summer. No problem getting them and they were 78 cents each.

I found another manufacturer with lots of options. Question is, do you know the originals diameter, length and head diameter?