Forgotten mistake - opinions needed

[erich weaver]

Yup
Just like a drywall repair!

Erich

[majuro15]

Man, and it made the front page today so pressure is on to fix it right!

[ppilotmike]

Originally Posted by majuro15

Man, and it made the front page today so pressure is on to fix it right!

Yup, so it better look good in your "repair complete" photo.. No pressure!

[LettersFromFlyoverCountry]

I would abandon the hole and drill a new hole and rivet.

[Pmerems]

Keep in mind drilling a new hole or holes in the assembly would not allow for deburring (stress risers). Then dimpling the assembly might cause cracks . Of couse you could remove many rivets and drill and debur the new holes hole, dimple and reassemble.

I don't particullary recommend flatening and redimpling. I would consider making a backing plate as recommended. Ues JB weld in the "drilled dimpled" existing hole and install a backing plate with a cleco "lubed". Let cure, remove the cleco remove and JB weld from dimple and rivet either an Opps rivet or a pulled rivet.

Food for thought.

[grayforge]

That's an interesting issue: What do you do about deburring the inboard edges of 2 sheets of metal already sandwhiched together when you drill them? I know you can take precautions (light pressure, using a reamer), but there would still be a slight bur or sharp edge.

[sf3543]

I would get between the two pieces with some fine sand paper to roughen up the surfaces and use JB Weld to bond them together. Making sure to fill the hole. Use a paint stir stick, covered with packing tape, to lightly clamp them together while curing. (Lay the paint stick flat on top and use a couple clothes pins or small clamps to hold everything together.
When everything is cured and smoothed out like you like it, drill and countersink for a rivet, in the same repaired hole location. Just use a soft rivet, since the bonding will hold everything together, and squeeze it in so everything looks normal.
JB Weld is great stuff. I use it to bond in NACA vents, empennage tips and other stuff and i have never had issues with any of them over hundreds of hours of flight.
Good luck.

[Robin8er]

Instead of an oops rivet why not use a full size -4 rivet? Looks like it would fit.

[majuro15]

I started off by using my squeezer and flattening the dimple (what was left of it) out.



I then made a small tab to rivet behind the rib. I marked a new location for an AN426AD3 rivet and used that to secure the tab.



The tab is only to provide a surface for the oops rivet to bite into as well as a backing plat to keep some epoxy with micro in place. I've tried to fill an open hole with JB weld before and it can get popped out, leaving a hole after paint.

Next, I put in the oops rivet after using a counter sink to allow it to sit flush. The backing plate provided an anchor for the countersink. The oops rivet doesn't completely fill the void on the skin, but it's not meant to be structural and I have gone back and filled that with micro and sanded everything smooth. (I also replaced the other rivet shown in the picture, as it was bent and driving me crazy!)



This is not the only way to fix it, I'm sure, but it's what I decided to go with. Hope it helps others out and I appreciate the ideas!