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OH RATS!!

s10sakota

s10sakota

Well Known Member
Ok...I just riveted all of the ribs to the spar on the right wing. Of course now I realized that every single rivet is installed backwards. The shop head is on the rib side :mad:

What do I do? Drill every one out? Leave it? Call Vans? Anyone else this stupid? What did you do? :(
 
The only time rivet direction is critical is when they are flush rivets.
 
No worries

As others said build on. When you rivet your leading edge to the spar the shop heads will be on the rib side. When able the factory head should be on the thinner side but it is not always possible.

Build on................................................................
 
Oh thank goodness!! I can't imagine drilling all those rivets out. The manual does state which way to put them in. I should have referenced the manual again before I started riveting. I guess I just got too excited to actually rivet!

Oh well...I still have the left wing to do correctly!
 
Wait until you squeeze 30-40 rivets, then realize you forgot to actually attach the part you're supposed to be riveting on. :D
 
s10sakota said:
I realized that every single rivet is installed backwards. The shop head is on the rib side :mad:

Call Vans? (
Click to expand...

I once had a similar question and made a bit of a fool of myself - only realising later of course - asking this to Vans Support. Just to fully reassure you, this was Ken's answer :

"Rivet direction, at least in round-head rivets, is usually a matter of builder
convenience and makes no structural difference.
Once the rivet has a head on each end, it isn't smart enough to know which one the factory made and which one you made."
 
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