sglynn
Well Known Member
How strong are clinched rivets? Do they always need to be drilled out and replaced? Can I reshape the shop heads to fix a clinched rivet? Your comments are appreciated. I'm building a 7a and the row of rivets along the main wing spar that hold on the main skin came out clinched. I back rivetted them originally and they looked fine. But when I turned the wing up side down and put it into the cradle I saw that most of the rivets clinched or tilted. I'm now trying to flatten the shop heads a bit more to cover up the entire hole using the rivet gun and bucking bar. This kind of works. I'm worried about drilling them out because the holes will get slightly large. But if the clinched rivets are too weak then I guess I'll drill 'em. Is there any negative aspects to shop heads that are a little larger then spec? Did anyone else see this and end up with clinched rivets along this row of rivets? What did you do about them. Your comments about clinched rivets and when they should be drilled out are appreciated.