Pulled Rivet tips from the Pazmany PL-4 Plans

I have a set of Pazmany PL-4 plans that is very similar to the -12 in that AN rivets are used only where absolutely necessary (maybe just a couple hundred at most) and pulled rvets everywhere else. They were expensive plans more like blueprints designed for commercial production with several pages of tips and techniques.

One tip I thought wa interesting was the suggestion to dip each pulled rivet in zinc chromate primer prior to inserting. It is supposed to ensure no loose mandrels, help seal under the head and allow the finsh coats of primer and paint to flow across the rivet head to the skin without the thin black line you sometimes see through the paint even when you set an rivets on unprimered skin.

Sounds like a worthwhile thing to do. The same result may also be obtained by simply putting all the rivets in a jar with a little primer, shake then pour them out to dry?

Anyone tried something like this.

Ultimately I may retire to muggly Louisiana or even south Fla so I feel like a full primer job is warrented.

Thanks

The mandrel on the LP-X series of rivets seem to be held very tightly in place, but the corrosion protection offered by your suggestion is interesting to those who have a concern about it.

On the first aircraft I built (Thorp T-18) I dipped all the Monel steel rivets in zinc chromate and used a hand puller, one rivet at a time. Had a small salmon fish can that I used for the zinc chromate. John Thorp thought it was overkill but said it was a good idea. If you put the rivet in wet it will seal the rivet hole and holds the rivet firmly when dry. They were all countersink rivets. You will wind up with a VERY strong hand grip if you use the steel rivets!

John Foy

I think...

Rick of Austin said:

....
Sounds like a worthwhile thing to do. The same result may also be obtained by simply putting all the rivets in a jar with a little primer, shake then pour them out to dry?
...
Thanks

Click to expand...

...they specifically want the rivets inserted while the primer is wet. This way the primer can form a good seal on any parts of the hole that are not perfect. The primer will coat the hole as well as the rivet.

If you let the primer dry, you won't get this same sealing effect.

On certified planes, some critical locations require parts and/or hardware to be inserted with a wet coat of zinc chromate for the same reason.

Question

I live a couple hundred yards from the Pacific Ocean so have decided to use self-etching primer inside of all surfaces. Acknowledging the fact that self-etching primer is not zinc chromate, my question is - would dipping my pulled rivets immediately before installing them work? I am more than willing to do this if it would add to the overall corrosion resistance to my RV-12 build. Your opinions please.