A method for tempering steel for riveting includes positioning a first component having a first composition over a second component having a second composition, and resistance spot welding the first component to the second component using a resistance spot weld gun to form a spot weld. The method includes tempering at least one of the first component, the second component and the spot weld with the resistance spot weld gun, and coupling a third component having a third composition to the first component and the second component with a rivet, and the third composition is different than the first composition and the second composition.