[N546RV]

Now that I'm back home from losing my OSH virginity, it's back to work on the tail. Tonight I got to the point of blind riveting HS-707 an -708 to the forward spar, except...yeah, there's nowhere near enough room to get my cheapo Lowe's rivet puller in there. I might be able to do it if I bend the rib and angle the puller, but after experimenting with angling the puller head while pulling a rivet in some scrap, I wasn't too happy with the results; the head didn't even sit flush with the material.

The one I have looks like this:

I was thinking of swinging by Harbor Freight Aviation Supply after work tomorrow and looking at one of these:

What are you guys using to pull rivets in tighter locations like this? Am I overthinking this?

 

[jlfernan]

Do like they do on the '12, make a wedge from aluminum with a hole in the center to make it possible to pull the rivet.

 

[scrollF4]

Modified rivet puller

Take a look at this EAA video:
http://www.eaavideo.org/video.aspx?v=60653678001

I bought and modified a rivet puller specifically for this use, and it works great. The tool looks a little banged up, but the results are spot-on.

 

[rgmwa]

This one is good for tight spaces. Also bending the rivet shank about 15 deg, and using the AEX wedges as per the RV-12 plans works well.

http://www.erivet.com/storefront_pr...TOOL,PHAND&itemnbr=PRG-26A&RequestTimeout=120

 

[ccsmith51]

I used one like this quite a bit, it's narrow...

http://www.redhillgeneralstore.com/housewares/homeimprovement/tools/Arrow-RL100S-Rivet-Tool.htm