RV-7A Rear HS spar rivet question - taller or wider??

[tegwilym]

From the instructions, surfing the builder sites, and this forum, I do understand that the rivets for the rear horizontal spar are a little shorter, but Van's says they are fine. I don't mind if they aren't perfect, I trust Van's, but here is my question:

Since the rivets listed are a little short, do I:
1) Squash it wider to the proper diameter on the gauge?
2) Squash it taller, so it fits the height on the -4 shop gauge?

My vote is #2 since there is a little more "meat" holding things, but I'm just a little confused. I did two rivets with the pneumatic squeezer, but then stopped thinking I better check with others before I go wrong

What do you think guys?

Thanks!

Tom
http://www.mykitlog.com/tomtraci/

[Dbro172]

Does either way fall within these specs posted here: http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/Specs.htm

[tegwilym]

Originally Posted by Dbro172

Does either way fall within these specs posted here: http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/Specs.htm

I've only done 2 and stopped. They are the right hight, but the diameter fits neatly into the gage hole rather than too big. So either one way or the other.

[BobTurner]

I'd try to split the difference, but err toward #1.
When the load is mostly shear you want to drive the rivet enough that the shank expands in the radial direction to completely fill the hole.

[aarvig]

I'd just put in a half size bigger rivet. You'll run into a lot of areas like this. Plus, if you are priming metal then some areas will have larger distances between parts because of the thickness of the primer. This may require a longer rivet. Just don't go to long and topple the rivet.

[tegwilym]

Thanks for the advice. I did email Van's the question and got a reply the other day. As alwasy, they had some great advice and set me this table.

It seems that the gauge is the optimal width/depth but there is tolerance range that is also accepable. I hope this table is useful to other builders, so here it is!

Tom

[rvbuilder2002]

Originally Posted by Dbro172

Does either way fall within these specs posted here: http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/Specs.htm

Originally Posted by tegwilym

Thanks for the advice. I did email Van's the question and got a reply the other day. As alwasy, they had some great advice and set me this table.

It seems that the gauge is the optimal width/depth but there is tolerance range that is also accepable. I hope this table is useful to other builders, so here it is!

Tom

For future reference, the information in the table is available in the MIL Spec document referenced in the 2nd post of this thread.

[Mike S]

Originally Posted by BobTurner

I'd try to split the difference, but err toward #1.
When the load is mostly shear you want to drive the rivet enough that the shank expands in the radial direction to completely fill the hole.

What he said.