air forums buck rivet set vintage trailer supply

#Air forums buck rivet set vintage trailer supply skin
#Air forums buck rivet set vintage trailer supply plus

#Air forums buck rivet set vintage trailer supply plus

After reading some informative posts by forum member Kip on Airforums who is a 30 year plus Airforce aircraft machinist specializing in the body maintenance of aircraft (I’m totally unclear on the nomenclature here) talk about the myriad types of rivets and especially the strengths and weaknesses of them I got curious and did some rudimentary testing of my own. The bulb on the end of the mandrel slips into the shaft of the body of the rivet instead of compressing and mechanically forcing the shaft to separate into the three legs.

This trailer is completely gutted with all of the interior skins removed so I have a clear view of everything from the inside.ĭue to their simplicity, pop rivets are inherently stronger, structurally speaking than Olympics. While the subsequent badging and small plaques done with pop rivets probably done at or soon after manufacturing showed some, but minimal signs of leaks.

If there is 100 Rivets, 95 of them showed signs of leaking. The whole lower front streetside quarter panel including the window above was replaced from the outside without disturbing any of the interior and was done with all Olympics. On my Airstream, there was a major repair that was most likely done by a reputable dealer or even possibly at Jackson Center. Olympic Rivets, with the three legged split design are more prone to leaking than pop rivets with simpler double mushroom (for lack of a better description) design. In terms of leaks, why is it you like pop rivets over Olympic rivets?įor the experience gained by these reasons: We’re mostly simple folk here and need visuals to help with helping you. While I’ve used them, I prefer pop rivets to them and Buck Rivets even more when feasible.Īll of these rivets can be removed, albeit, often with curse words and with the assistance of pliers or whiskey. A sneaky small shaft that pulls the inside towards the out. They look like Buck Rivets but have an indication of a small circle in the middle of the dome. These are almost always a sign of repair. These are tricky to spot as they masquerade as Buck Rivets but are really just complicated pop rivets. These have some structural nature and can be made leak resistant if installed rightģ) Olympic Rivets. If found on the exterior, then it was likely an add on, such as the belt line moulding, or a “fix” by the PO (Previous Owner, also referred to as a Piece Of.

#Air forums buck rivet set vintage trailer supply skin

Mostly they are found in the interior skin as that is what those are attached with. This last bit goes with all rivets.Ģ) Pop Rivets. It is very important to center punch in the center, then drill them out as straight as possible so you don’t enlarge the hole. They can be drilled out by using a center punch to make a dimple then, the most important part, using the appropriate sized drill bit.

They are most prevalent on the outside and look like a small, smooth dome. These are the most common exterior structural rivets. The three main types of rivets used in these trailers are as follows:ġ) Buck/ed Rivets.