Rivet issue on elevator

[Tbarsic]

I purchased a complete empenage kit. I have been going through fixing what the builder mentioned and going through the steps to make sure everything was completed per the plans. So far everything has been awesome, the builder did a great job.

I have one question about a rivet I'm not sure if I need to fix it or not and if so if a blind rivet will do? It appears the dimpling process was slightly off.

Please see attached pictures and let me know if I can use a pop rivet or if I need to drill out all the rivets and remove the skin and redo the rivet. I found this rivet on a finished elevator. The rivet is located on the bottom of the elevator.

[Tbarsic]

https://imgur.com/8DDkwpE

[iwannarv]

Hard to tell what's happening there..... It could be a dimple issue/back rivet mistake or an extra hole under there. I don't think I would disassemble the whole skin for that....

If you feel you need to address it, you could drill the rivet out, inspect (then decide), and replace with an MK-319 BS pop rivet.

[Desert Rat]

Drilling out a rivet and replacing with a blind fastener is allowed as long as it's a structural blind rivet, not just a random pop rivet. Section 5 of the build manual covers this.

HOWEVER- there's nothing obviously wrong with the rivet in your picture. I say obviously because the head looks fine, but you would need to get inside with a borescope to see what the tail looks like otherwise who knows.

The issue you have appears to be that they goofed the dimple before putting a rivet in it. If it were me, I'd move on.

[flion]

I agree with the advice to move on. I does look like a mis-dimple was redone. The corresponding hole under the skin is probably fine, so the rivet is good. I'd put a dab of structural epoxy in the divot, wipe while wet (the hole will fill but the rivet will still be visible under paint like the others), and move on. Or you could wait and let your painter fill it.

[Tbarsic]

Thanks guys, I busted out the bore scope and the tail of the rivet looks great. I'm going to fill it with structural epoxy and move on. I appreciate the help once again.