Handbrake switch rivets
 

All,

I removed my handbrake/heater assembly yesterday to diagnose the failed dash brake warning light that I have.

Turns out the copper "elbow" on the back of the handbrake handle had broken off. The little remainder of it is/was held on by two rivets made of copper. I ground those off and removed the broken bit.

I've ordered the new elbow/switch contact from our host. I've got a rivet gun, but didn't have any 2mm rivets (tiny), so I ordered some in stainless steel after a trip to the FLAPS and Home Depot came up empty.

My question is as follows: do we think that the copper rivets are important to the electrical connection (ie., conducting the current to ground via the copper spring through the rivets), and should I use copper rivets for the replacement? I have no idea how I would do this since there is little/no access to the back side of the handle. Or do you guys think stainless would be OK? I avoided aluminum due to bimetallic corrosion.

Thoughts?

If you can add a copper washer under the rivets it may help. Otherwise it should be fine.

Update: I used stainless steel rivets with no copper washer (thanks timmy2). Tested it on the bench with a 12v battery and signal light - plenty of strong current/connection. Reassembled everything and it's working great now.