IowaRV9Dreamer

IowaRV9Dreamer

Well Known Member
Hi - a fellow builder has given me a few AN470AD6-7 "big" rivets to use to close up the tooling holes in the outboard fuel tank ribs.

Even though these are the shortest 3/16" rivets that Vans sells, I think they will be way too long to use as-is. The fuel tank ribs are 0.032 thick. If I understand rivets correctly, I need to have 1.5D protruding prior to setting the rivet, or 0.281. Adding that to the rib thickness gives 0.313 which is about a -5 rivet.

My question is - what is the easiest way to remove 1/8 inch from a rivet without a rivet cutter (I'm too cheap to buy one for only 2 rivets). I have only a very few, so I can't experiment too much.

Thanks!
 
Hacksaw and vice

I think it took probably less than 30 seconds per rivet with a hacksaw. Too obvious, i know!

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I used longer AD6 rivets as well. I wasn't too worried about getting the length exactly right, since the rivet isn't doing anything structural - just plugging the tooling hole. Plus, it will (or should, at least) get covered by Proseal.

If the rivet is too long to set at all, you could use a disk sander or even a file to shorten them. Just be careful if you use the sander, those rivets get hot!

Hope this helps...

Dave
 
I did it the easy way.

This is not structural, so I used a #4 rivet and prosealed it good. It is not going to fall out even though it didn't fit the hole.

Kent
 
Thermos said:
If the rivet is too long to set at all, you could use a disk sander or even a file to shorten them. Just be careful if you use the sander, those rivets get hot!
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That was my first plan, but I was afraid of the heat changing the temper of the rivet, causing it to become unsqueezable.

The other poster is right, I "forgot" these aren't structural, so maybe I can squeeze them at the longer length.

Love these forums - three ideas in just a few minutes!
 
IowaRV9Dreamer said:
That was my first plan, but I was afraid of the heat changing the temper of the rivet, causing it to become unsqueezable.
!
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I don't think they become unsqueezable--actually they squeeze (or buck) a little too easily causing them to flatten out too much if you hit them too long. I haven't heard anything about the heat causing any long-term strength problems though if you grind off a little before bucking it. Anyone else know anything about this?
 
Rivets work harden, which means that if you heat them up, it becomes very difficult to set them. I'd try with a longer one first, as long as you plug the hole, you're done.

Pop rivets would work just fine and it won't be visible once it's on the airplane.
 
"Work hardening" is not caused by heat, it's caused by rearrangement of the micro-crystalline structure of the metal due to mechanical deformation. Heating it may affect the temper, but it won't "work harden" the metal.
 
put it in

cut it with a hack saw, put it in the hole, and smack it a time or two, enough to put some set in it and cover it with proseal. at least thats how i did it. :)
 
If you can get them use AN470A non structural soft alloy and not AN470AD structural hard alloy rivets. They set very easily. The As are aluminum colored whereas the ADs are gold. I might have a few left and will pop a couple in the mail if you email me your address.
Jim Sharkey
[email protected]
 
On my QB tank, they didn't put anything in the hole. Just a gob of proseal on the inside of the tank to cover the hole. I added some proseal to the outside as well, just in case. So far no leaks.
 
They worked great!

jsharkey said:
I might have a few left and will pop a couple in the mail if you email me your address.
Jim Sharkey
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Jim - those big funny aluminum colored soft rivets worked out great - thanks so much! Now they are forever buried under Proseal blobs in my end ribs. You're a great guy for sending them to me... now will you come and install the ribs?

Thanks again,
 
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