[dspender]

Closing in the horizontal stabilizer on my 10. Riveted the nose ribs and then the front spar. I then noticed a loose rivet on one of the front ribs. I had not driven it enough. Luckily I could access it with a bucking bar taped onto a chisel. What are the implications of a loose flush rivet that you no longer have access to during the build? What are the repair options? Other thoughts on this new concern I have uncovered?

 

[N804RV]

... What are the implications of a loose flush rivet that you no longer have access to during the build? What are the repair options?...

The loose rivet will work against the skin/structure and cause fretting. You can sometimes spot a "working" rivet by the perpetual grimey ring around the rivet head.

One loose rivet isn't an immediate downer. But, you'll have to fix it sooner or later. And, the sooner you fix it, the simpler and cheaper the fix is.

If you can't get access to form the shop head, you'll have to use a pop rivet.

--------------Added----------------

Found a link to an interesting article on this:

http://www.mechanicsupport.com/smoking_rivet.html

 

[dspender]

Thank you for the interesting article. I talked with Ken at Van's and he recommended if I wanted to replace a rivet that I could not access the shop end to use an MK319BS pull rivet and a #36 drill bit for the hole.