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Hello John, Can't help you with the fender other than to say take it apart and repair the bottom or fabricate a new. If you don't have the tools, take it to a good body shop that does true metal work and have them repair it. Another option is to find a good used fender. What really caught my eye was you question about the rivets. I have a 57 Ford 850 and tracked down some original fenders. Ford also used a combination of rivets and carriage bolts. I don't know why. I also suspect that the same manufacturer made Ford and MF fenders because of their similarities. Like all tractors 50 years old there is going to be rust, so I removed the rivets and carriage bolts and took the mounting bracket off the skin and cleaned up the rust. I had obtained the rivets but I was afraid of doing damage to the fenders installing them. For proper installation of the rivets, they are heated and then swedged. It's hard to comeby the proper tools to do this job. I thought about making a tool, but finally decided I didn't want to chance damaging the fenders during installation of the rivets. So to the point, I used 3/8 X 1 in rib necked carriage bolts and regular carriage bolts. Worked great. I also e-mailed John Smith of oldford tractors.com and he told me he did not use the rivets in his rebuilding, but carriage bolts. To get rib necked carriage bolts you'll need to go to a fastner supplier. Not Fastenal, though they list them they can't get them. Although not strictly original it does, on the outside, appear the same and allows the skin to be removed easily for repair or rust prevention. Hope this helps you out.
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