Originally Posted by a2psyklnut
Most cassettes are held together by three long screws. If you look closely, the heads are allen heads. I think they're like a 1 or a 1.5 metric. So yeah, they're pretty small. Stop by you LBS and ask for some spare spacers. They usually have a junk box with some old cassettes that they'll usually let you have to tear apart and get the spacers.
While there, ask them about a threaded axle for the rear hub. That way you will no longer have the fear of the rear wheel coming out. A new axle for a low end shimano hub shouldn't be more than about $15.00, and you sound mechanically inclined enought to swap it.
Good Luck & L8R
Thanks for the note psyklnut.
I checked out the cassette last night and a spare I had kicking around, and they are both riveted. One of them is from a bike that came with comlete shimano altus c10, and the other is from a bike that was equipped with stx. I thought when I bust them up I might have enough spacers for the job. I am going to the bike shop this weekend, and I will probably ask while I am there about the spacers and the axle. I have one question about the axle. DO you know a trick for getting the cones spaced right? When I grease the hubs now, I just leave one cone in place, but I would guess that if you are moving things over to a new axel, you will have to remeasure the spacing.
thanks again.