Ok, I found a solution to my vent window rivet problem and I am sharing it here in hopes that it saves others the frustration and time in coming to a solution of their own.
The problem was, how to flatten the vent window rivet on a 1965 bug. My first problem was to find the correct rivet, a 60 cent item in the Wolfsburg catalog with an $8.00 shipping charge. I decided I could do better locally. I finally found a rivet at my local hardware store but alas, it was a solid rivet and too big in diameter by just a hair. At 6 cents each I couldn’t resist. With a jewelers file I buffed the diameter down and drilled a hole down the center. Now it fit and could be pressed.
In my search for the right rivet I came across a store called Fastenal (www.fastenal.com) that specializes in tools and fasteners. There I found what they called a small mouth top beam clamp. (order number 3/8 SM MOUTH TOPBEAM pb001526 62212). The price was right at 99 cents.
I filed the top tip off to provide better clearance on the hinge and center the rivet. Interestingly enough the end of the bolt in the clamp was concave so it served two purposes, one to stay directly on the rivet as I was tightening it down and second, to later hold a ball bearing I took from an old front wheel bearing. The ball bearing idea came from CPRcubed on Shoptalkforums.
Next I squeezed the rivet down as seen here. I held the clamp with a pair of vise grips while tightening. Once the rivet was flattened it looked pretty good.
Next I inserted the ball bearing and tightened it down again.
.
The finished product looks just like the original.