[VAC] Rivets

["Nick Novia" <nnovia@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Lord knows I have enough projects in front of me, but..as I was looking underneath
my rig at the trap door for the sewer hose I noticed that some of the rivets
holding the belly skins were dangling from their holes.  To me, it looks like
either of two things might have happened.

One, after 32 years of use and abuse, the holes elongated through vibration,
or two, someone had already drilled out the original rivets, and not very carefully,
resulting in an elongated hole, with the existing sized rivet diameter would
no longer fit correctly.  

The rivets looked way long too.  I remember working on Sikorsky Aircraft skins,
we would measure the length of the rivet with a Hi-Lok gauge.  Stick it in the
hole, hook it, and read the gauge. It measured the thickness.  If I rememnber
right the diameter is in 1/32's and the lengths were in 1/16's.

I see the olympic rivets all come in one size. 5/5, I think I read, and that
would mean to me, 5/32 diamter by 5/16 long.  That's pretty long, but might
be needed if the skin was picking up a frame. Is the thickness, of the Airstream
skins, uniform?  If not, maybe this is why the stems break off so high. 

 Of course, I have yet to use an Olympic rivet, so I don't know how they break.
 They have a stem, and a collar that fits around it? 
Hmm...

Is this a normal wear and tear expectation.  When I fix it, I guess I must go
to the 5/32 sized diameter?

BTW, I had never before seen, or heard of a chromed portable extinguisher...great
lead to that website Bill!

Nick 
'68 Safari