Priming External Skins

[AusRV8]

Hi All,

I am starting my empennage kit and I want to make sure I eliminate corrosion. I am a qualified spray painter so I have a head start in this area. I want to prime all internal areas but I am curious as to what order to prime external skins. I want to prime the skin before it is riveted so the skin has primer underneath the rivet head but I am concerned the layer of primer might wear away loosening the tolerance of the rivet and cause the rivet to smoke. I am also concerned that if I don't prime before riveting that underneath the rivet head could retain moisture and create an avenue for corrosion to get underneath the primer, I will be using 2 part primer. Wondering if anyone has had any results over time on this question,

cheers


George

[eddieseve]

Hi George,

I primed all the skins after surface preparation and have no smoking rivets, although I only have 220 hrs on the RV7 so far :-)

Smoking if it does ever happen will occur regardless of any surface preparation you may apply.

Cheers

[Kyle Boatright]

Many people have primed the exterior rivet holes before riveting without causing smoking rivets. I don't think that is a real concern.

If you are concerned about cured primer chipping or wearing off during the riveting process, you could prime the holes and immediately install the rivets into the wet holes. A good way to do that would be by dabbing a primer laden cotton swab into the hole right before inserting the rivet.

Hope this helps.