I'm putting my dash back together, and I ran into a problem. Once everything is riveted, the parts don't sit flush anymore. I thought about shimming the spring plate out to make up for the back of the rivet, but then the button won't grab the spring. It's my first go round with these so I'm learning, all tips and pointers will be greatly appreciated.

It looks like there are screw threads above the plate hitting against the other half of the dash. Maybe a set of rivets instead to hold the spring to the plate ( wide side if rivet on top of plate ).

No screws, it's all rivets.

Not sure what I'm seeing. This is what the plate/spring should look like.

That's the pop rivet side. Grind it down with an angle grinder so it's flat.

I had the same problem. I ended up turning the top retaining plate 90* to the mounting (welded) tab. Then I drilled a hole in the mounting tab for the pop-rivet to go through. Worked great. You could also possibly drill new holes in the mounting tab, cut another slot with a cut-off wheel and mount the spring at a 90 compared to what it is from the factory. Then just drill out the old spring mounting holes so that the rivets from the top plate pass through those holes. That's my $0.02....

Now I see. The rivet in the button is sticking down and hitting the spring plate. Either the spring or the button needs to be reclocked with holes drilled in the tab for the rivet sticking through the button. There are plates made for that or you just clock your buttons around 90* and make your own holes. You can grind it down some and/or dolly it flat but it will still set up some and if you take too much off, you loose the clamp on the rivet.

Or you can call Bickle and get the smash rivet tool and some flush mount rivets and a rivet cutting tool and do a pro job. I'll get you a pic tomorrow.

I've heard about these. Aren't the tools really expensive?

$70 or 80 from an aircraft supply place for a cheapy. Maybe find a decent used one on ebay. Lots of that stuff around with the economy and aircraft work in the tank. Any buddies who work in an aircraft or fab shop?

Tools

You never turn the fastener and the spring the exact same way, or you get the issue you have. Grind the rivet and it likely won't hold. So your options are, clock the spring or fastener one in a different direction, use plates like shown above or get a smash rivet tool