Re: [VACList] Rivets re:bucked tail diameter, etc

[Chris Elliott <celliott@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

   Thanks to Tom and Bobby for keeping this thread going . I can see this is a
bit more complicated than I thought . I bought a real rivet gun because I needed
to do the the rivets around the door , olympics wont work because the " tails "
wont fit under the weatherstrip . And I bought the gun for less than a rivet
shaver for olympics . Plus I`m the sort of guy that likes to do things the hard
way - and keep learning the right way .
    So far Ive learned ... I`m going to have to cut the rivet tails to length
1.5 to 2 x the thickness of whats being riveted , with a rivet cutter (best ) or
dikes ( harder to master , but I have those !) . I still dont know how what
hardness to order , or do you always temper your own as Tom described ?.  I
drill a #30 hole for an 1/8 rivet , a #21 for an olympic type . The sheet metal
is .032 for roof 2024 t3 alclad, .024 for bellypan need not be alclad . Correct
me if I`m wrong .
     I made great progress this weekend , I got the interior end cap up and the
piece under it , plus the lower streetside and lower piece in front of the door.
I finnally ended up using Johns Manville no formaldehyde high density r 13 split
in half for insulation . What with all the wires I did not use the reflectix
foil bubble stuff , it was compressing the fiberglass to much , there is only
1.5 inches between skins . I would recommend that insulation , nice and white
and dosnt shed fibers so bad as regular stuff for the same $ . Owens corning
high -r was twice as much . Plus the no formaldehyde is good in a small space
like trailers . Now the rest of interior is on hold till I get sheet metal and
rivets and repair the roof panel and furnace hole . I hope to make the original
vent removable and have the newer furnace vent underneath - we`ll see how that
turns out .
    I wish I had remembered to take pictures of under the front end cap , It
might have helped with wiring details for someone else , funny how they crossed
from side to side to feed things . I get in a frenzy working , and I forget to
record the details if anyone ever wondered whats under there . I dont plan on
selling this one EVER so I dont have to document the new wire and insulation
underneath !
   Thanks again for rivet info - keep it coming if you think of other things I
need to know .
 Chris