The Royal Enfield shares a common trait with the Norton Commando of a two piece riveted front fender. The front fender on the RE was dented but fixable. Wanting to keep as many original pieces as I could, I removed the dents, cut off the aluminium rivets, separated the pieces, and sent them out for plating. The pieces came out well so on to putting it all back together.
Aluminum rivets direct from the factory.
The tools and rivets used. The steel cross is my practice piece. Before hammering rivets into my fender I wanted to convince myself I knew what I was doing.
The rivets did not fit the holes and had to be cut down with a parting tool on a lathe. Length was trimmed with a hand trimmer to 3X the thickness of the parts being fastened together.
The proper way to do this is with a rived gun but I did not have one and did not want to buy one for the little bit I will use it. I elected to hand hammer them in. A nylon block was used to support the heads while working over the ends with a hammer and punch. My son-inlaw Tom held things in place while I set the first couple of rivets.
Getting the rivets to form to the fender took a bit of persuasion.
Aluminum punches, ground to fit the contour of the inside of the fender, were used to form the rivet head bottoms to the fender outer side. This was done from the inside of the fender with the rivet heads bucked by a nylon block. My lovely redheaded assistant held things in place while I ran the hammer. She loves helping out..........
The final assembly looks good & I am happy with the results.
Next.....Pipes and the headlight ring heading to Atlas for new chrome.
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