riveting inboard hinge bracket

prkaye · #1 09-24-2006, 01:50 PM

Anybody remember assembling that inboard hinge braket for the HS of the RV-9A? You have to rivet together two hinge brackets and a bearing in between them. These are steel parts, and the plans call for AD4-6 rivets.

1) These are steel powder-coated parts, but I found the holes weren't quite big enough to get those rivets in. So I had to drill them to #30. This was a bit tough because the parts are steel. Anybody else do this, or not do it?

2) The instructions very explicityl say "The -6 rivet length is correct." I checked with a rivet length gauge and they looked correct. But when I set these rivets, in order to get the shop head wide enough, they ended up being flatter than they should. Could this be because I drilled the holes out, so the rivets have more space to fill?

3) My pneumatic squeezer for some reason wouldn't squeeze these rivets. Even with 120 psi on my compressor, the sets just stopped on the rivet... wouldn't squeeze. Is there a problem with my squeezer, or is this normal?

I had to make numerous attempts on these rivets to get something half-way decent.... did anyone else have a problem with these?

jlfernan · #2 09-24-2006, 02:14 PM

Yes you have to drill them out. The powder coating used on these parts fills the holes. Your squeezer is fine, mine has the same problem with 1/8 rivets. Use your hand squeezer and sneak up on the final setting and the rivets will come out fine. Check the shop head with a rivet gauge, if they're within spec, you're golden.

G-force · #3 09-24-2006, 05:23 PM

Match drilling the brackets is normal. As for your squeezer, mine did them fine at 90 psi. Are you sure its is set to the very end of the stroke? Thats where it makes the most squeezing pressure. If your squeezer is really not strong enough, try setting it up to squeeze it half way first, then adjust the set to finish it of with a second squeeze. I also use the -6 length as called out even though they were a bit short on the rivet gauge. While the 1.5d width and .5d height are prefered, the Mil spec goes down to 1.3d and .3d I believe.