AX-O
Well Known Member
I asked the question "when is a rivet too old" on this forum not long ago. A few people said that rivets from 2004 were not too old to use. So I used them. Here is my kitlog entry discussing what happened.
I started the day very anxious due to all those platenuts that needed to be installed on the main spar. The day started slow and I was in good spirit. First thing was to spot prime all the countersunk holes. After that I riveted all the platenuts for the #6 and #8 screw holes on the left wing. I used the left over rivets from my tail kit because they were newer and they looked to be in better shape than the ones that showed up with the wing kit. I used the same rivets on the left wing as well until I ran out. Once I ran out of the newer rivets, I started using the older ones (look at the picture below, the gold rivet are newer than the silver looking ones). Why am I making such a big deal about the rivets you ask? Well I bought the wing kit from a guy that no longer wanted it. The kit was delivered to him late 2004. He just inventoried the wing kit. No work was started. After I finished riveting all the platenuts on the right wing, I checked the work. I saw that over HALF of the rivets that I installed (old ones) had hairline fractures. I almost cried. I knew how much work was ahead of me. I had to drill out every one of those rivets. All the old rivets that I had were discarded and I ordered over $100 worth of new rivets. Not so happy but rivets hold the airplane together. Kind of need good rivets. After I went inside, ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (my girlfriend made it because she saw had mad I was) and calmed down, I fabricated W-731 and riveted the K1000-4 platenuts to the spar (with rivets from the tail kit). Do yourself a favor, don't use old rivets.
I started the day very anxious due to all those platenuts that needed to be installed on the main spar. The day started slow and I was in good spirit. First thing was to spot prime all the countersunk holes. After that I riveted all the platenuts for the #6 and #8 screw holes on the left wing. I used the left over rivets from my tail kit because they were newer and they looked to be in better shape than the ones that showed up with the wing kit. I used the same rivets on the left wing as well until I ran out. Once I ran out of the newer rivets, I started using the older ones (look at the picture below, the gold rivet are newer than the silver looking ones). Why am I making such a big deal about the rivets you ask? Well I bought the wing kit from a guy that no longer wanted it. The kit was delivered to him late 2004. He just inventoried the wing kit. No work was started. After I finished riveting all the platenuts on the right wing, I checked the work. I saw that over HALF of the rivets that I installed (old ones) had hairline fractures. I almost cried. I knew how much work was ahead of me. I had to drill out every one of those rivets. All the old rivets that I had were discarded and I ordered over $100 worth of new rivets. Not so happy but rivets hold the airplane together. Kind of need good rivets. After I went inside, ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (my girlfriend made it because she saw had mad I was) and calmed down, I fabricated W-731 and riveted the K1000-4 platenuts to the spar (with rivets from the tail kit). Do yourself a favor, don't use old rivets.