[VAL] Failed interior pop rivet

[John Leggett <pklhead2@xxxxxxxxx>]

I've got a question for those that have seen the insides of more Airstreams  
than I.   

A friend has just purchased a 1962 26' Overlander and a surprising number  
of the interior pop rivets are missing or the heads are coming off quite  
easily.  The interior was original zolatoned and PO had painted over it at  
least twice, so no telling what kind of paint they used, or primers they  
may have applied.  My friend and I speculated that whatever they used, like  
possibly an acid wash, it has caused some sort of corrosion affecting the  
pop rivets.  In areas behind roof lockers, etc., that were still only  
zolatone we didn't see any evidence of rivets failing.   

Are we on the right track or should we be looking for something more  
ominous? Like frame separation or something structural?  All exterior  
rivets, seams, window joints all look OK and weathertight.  It's just the  
interior panels where all the rivet heads are popping off.   

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated before we get too much  
further into this project.   

John Leggett WBCCI #1154 
San Francisco