Re-riveting protocol???

Ok, more questions. When replacing rivets should I replace one at a time or remove say an entire row and replace them in sequince? Is there a thread on how to on here? I tried a seacrh and it brought up every post / subject that mentions rivets. Thanks

I do them two at a time but I am use to doing aircraft.I would start in the center and work out in an even pattern.I hope you are using solid rivets.

Nope. thats not what I got. I haven't started yet. I bought a hand riveting gun and some "blind rivets" or "snap" rivets will these work?

Ok, the bolts are 1/2 long x 3/16 diameter. So what size / type rivets shoul I use? FYI: I pulled out a few strategically place bolts. Whoever did this use stailess nuts and washers but regular old bolts. And the syliconed the heck out of everthing. The bare aluminum I have found appears to none the worse for the wear, but I have only removed about a dozen of the bolts so far.

I would drill them to 1/4 inch to make sure the holes are good and use 1/4 inch rivets.Solid rivets are the best to use.Seal them with 3M 5200 marine sealant. www.grainger.com or https://www.aircraftspruce.com have the rivets and the sealant can be bought at some Lowe's and Walfart.

i used the pop rivits on mine, they've been beat on for about 6 months now and are still holding up

but they wont be near as strong as the solid rivits. i only used um because i already had um

ben2go said:

I would drill them to 1/4 inch to make sure the holes are good and use 1/4 inch rivets.Solid rivets are the best to use.Seal them with 3M 5200 marine sealant. https://www.grainger.com or https://www.aircraftspruce.com have the rivets and the sealant can be bought at some Lowe's and Walfart.

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Agreed on the rivet part. Disagree on the sealant part. Solid rivets need no sealant. And, I would highly recommend against putting sealant under the rivet, before you buck it. When you buck it, the sealant will be forced out of there at a high rate of speed, and will make a mess of all surrounding it.

bassboy1 said:

ben2go said:

I would drill them to 1/4 inch to make sure the holes are good and use 1/4 inch rivets.Solid rivets are the best to use.Seal them with 3M 5200 marine sealant. https://www.grainger.com or https://www.aircraftspruce.com have the rivets and the sealant can be bought at some Lowe's and Walfart.

Click to expand...

Agreed on the rivet part. Disagree on the sealant part. Solid rivets need no sealant. And, I would highly recommend against putting sealant under the rivet, before you buck it. When you buck it, the sealant will be forced out of there at a high rate of speed, and will make a mess of all surrounding it.

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True.I didn't think about that.

Ok, I am heading over to Fastenal roday to look at some rivets. The ones I found are still pop rivets but they are all aluminum with a closed button head that is 3/8 in diameter with a 1/4 shaft. By all rights these should work fine. I intend on replacing all the rivets (322 of them by my count ) I'm not discourage yet. The pain will be the floor rivets as I will have to have some one hold a wrench on the nuts while I un screw the bolts.

You sure you need to replace all the rivets?
I bet alot are still good maybe just need alittle tapping or nothing at all.
Good luck on your project.

Re-cap. 95% of my rivets have been replaced with 3/16" bolts. They look like this:

I intend on using these rivets to replace them.

They are closed end all aluminum "pop" rivets that are 3/16 with a grip of 3/5-1/2". If any one has a reasonable objection please let me know before I pull the trigger on this, cause there are 322, give or take a few, rivets (bolts) in this boat that have gotta come out.

Ok, I replaced about 50 of the bolts yesterday. It was a pain in the kaboose! The flat head side of the bolts kept stripping out. Had to cut a dozen or so with the dremmel. It will be a slow process.

let me know how it turns out. if it leaks or not. I have two bolts in mine and i want replace them also.

did you order the rivets online or buy them in a store?

fishinchef said:

did you order the rivets online or buy them in a store?

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And how are they working out?Any issues.

Ok, the riveting is tedious. But its moving along. I bought what I could find at a local Fastenal store and they ordered me some more of the same. I am a little over half way done with all the rivets. Getting the old bolts out is what takes all the time. Other than that there seem to be no other issues. I'll keep you posted on the progress.