![]() ![]() Airstreams use only two sizes: 1/8″ and 5/32.” The 1/8″ rivets are generally used for trim on the exterior, and to hold the skins to the ribs on the interior. There are two types of rivets on an Airstream: bucked rivets and blind rivets. But don’t worry, they are easy to drill out if you need to change something you’ve riveted. Rivets are more “permanent” in that they stay put. Screws will back out of their holes with the constant road vibration that an Airstream experiences, so eventually a screw will no longer be holding whatever it was screwed into. You “buck” a solid rivet.įirst of all, there really shouldn’t be any screws on an Airstream. ![]() Here is some basic information to get you started. Flexible marine epoxy or sealant, applied to the hole before tightening, will help this repair last longer.If you’re going to work on an Airstream, you have to know about rivets. It’s not a typical hardware store item, though, so be prepared to hunt around.Īs a stopgap until you can install a new rivet, you can also use a small stainless steel machine screw with an acorn nut. Slip the dowel over the unpeened end-a solid hammer blow will cinch everything up, ready for you to shape the rivet head.Ĭan you use pop rivets instead? You only need access to one side of the hull to install them, but standard pop rivets are useless below the water line-they have a hole right through them! If you can’t reach both sides, you can try a closed-end pop rivet. Put the rivet in its hole and your buck against the rivet head. Drill a hole just larger than the rivet’s diameter in a hardwood dowel or steel bar. For the best hold, “set” the rivet first, so the metal sheets are in tight contact. When seated in its hole, the new rivet’s unpeened (headless) end should protrude by about 2/3 of its diameter. To remove an old rivet, file or grind off one head, or drill it out, but don’t enlarge the hole. Check marine supply houses and sheet metal vendors. When that happens, you’ll need a source of solid aluminum rivets. The key is to avoid too much hammering: Old aluminum rivets can split or break if you give them a heavy whack. You can also use the face of a sledge hammer as the buck and a carpenter’s hammer to tighten. If you have one, an automotive bodywork dolly will work as a buck, and a ball-peen hammer can retighten the rivet head. One of you holds the buck-any anvil-like hunk of steel-tightly against the flat side of the rivet, while the other hammers the crimped end. To rebuck (tighten) a rivet, you’ll need a helper (or long arms). Or, get the boat up off the ground, fill it to the water line with water, and mark the leaking rivets. ![]() ![]() To find the leaking culprits, let water in from outside, or let it out from inside: You can beach your boat and gradually, foot by foot, slide it into the water, marking the rivets that leak as you move along. And while it’s pretty amazing how much of a pounding they can take, eventually their rivets loosen or break-and then the seams on your hull may refuse to keep the water in the lake, where you want it. When you think about it, aluminum boats are little more than a few sheets of metal, held together with some rivets and welds. ![]()
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