Head Slap - Drilled Nutplate Rivet Holes in Wrong Part

[skelrad]

I'm feeling pretty dumb at the moment. I just laid out and trimmed the corrugated upper baggage bulkhead for my 9A. I match drilled the screw holes into it that connect it and the lower bulkhead. Great, this isn't bad at all...time to put the nutplates in place! I don't know where my brain was, but I grabbed my nutplate jig and proceeded to drill the first nutplate rivet holes into the corrugated bulkhead instead of into the 706 fuselage bulkhead where they belong. It wasn't until I pulled the jig off and started to move it to the next spot that my idiocy hit me.

So now I have a couple extra eyesore rivet holes in the corrugated bulkhead. I don't think it's a big deal, but I also don't want them staring at me every time I load baggage. I can't fill the holes with rivets because the part has to lay flush when it mates with the lower baggage bulkhead. I haven't gotten into any fiberglass work yet, so no experience there. If I were to overlay the holes with fiberglass (on the visible, forward side so the backing material doesn't make the parts stand proud?) and fill them from the back so they are flush, can the fiberglass be feathered pretty easily so that it blends with the sheet metal pretty well once painted? Any other obvious ideas I'm missing?

I like to create more work for myself. Keeps me busy.

 

[Webb]

Double flush rivet. Countersink both sides and use a shorter than normal rivet.
Put the shop head on the side you cover and the machine side on the side you look at.

 

[skelrad]

Double flush rivet. Countersink both sides and use a shorter than normal rivet.
Put the shop head on the side you cover and the machine side on the side you look at.

I considered that, but it's only. 025" material, so wasn't sure if I could pull it off.

 

[Bill Boyd]

For a purely cosmetic repair like this, I would consider countersinking the holes and filling with a dab of micro slurry or (gasp!) Bondo. Feather smooth with 220 sandpaper. Paint will cover it well.

 

[skelrad]

For a purely cosmetic repair like this, I would consider countersinking the holes and filling with a dab of micro slurry or (gasp!) Bondo. Feather smooth with 220 sandpaper. Paint will cover it well.

I was guessing I wouldn't get enough surface area in thin material to get a filler to stick, but with such a small hole, maybe you're right that a countersink would do the trick. I hadn't thought of essentially making the hole bigger first! I'll try on a piece of scrap. Thanks!

 

[gasman]

Countersink both sides 50%. Tape over front side. Place (tape side down) on a flat surface and dab in JB weld with a toothpick to fill level. Let it set up and finish with sandpaper and glazing putty.

You will never be able to find it after it is painted.

 

[wirejock]

Holes

Leave them. You won't see them when there's stuff back there.
Another option. Apply the "Experimental" sticker over them or come up with other stuckers like "Tie Down" or "Don't Look".
Another option. Make some pretty covers just big enough to cover the extra holes. Put them on like a washer under the screws. Paint a matching color.

 

[BobTurner]

Yep, I'd leave them. I'm pretty sure (I've forgotten)that my baggage bulkhead came from the factory with one extra hole in it (tooling hole?).

But if you have to do something, counter sink the holes for an "opps rivet".Cut the entire shank off and glue the head in. No one will know.

 

[sf3543]

Oops rivet time!

Easy fix
Use an oops rivet for this
Use your deburring tool to lightly countersink both sides. Very little required for the oops rivet.
Then squeeze the rivet as much as you can. A pneumatic squeezer works really well for this.
On the shop head side, use a rivet shaver in your micro cage to shave the shop head flush.
After paint you will never see it.

 

[Desert Rat]

I really don’t see how there would be enough depth to double flush that thin skin. If it were me I’d chalk it up to experience and move on.

If you decide to put an interior in it will cover it up anyway. Even if you don’t, nobody but you will ever notice it.

 

[JonJay]

Leave it. You will never see it later, and if you do, it’s a simple reminder that you’re human.
You’ve spent enough time on this. Build on.

 

[skelrad]

Thanks for all of the tips! I don't deny that making a few inconsequential holes disappear is completely unnecessary. After hearing the options, it sounds like there are some pretty easy and quick solutions though. I'll give one a shot. If it doesn't pan out, so be it. I could just leave it and move on, but I think part of education in building is what you learn in fixing errors. I'm not going to obsess over this and will sleep just fine if I can't get the holes filled in a way that looks nice. It's worth a shot to learn something new I will probably be able to use down the road someday though.

 

[Brantel]

Go ahead and slightly countersink the aft side hole for surface area. Put a piece of tape on the fwd side. Fill the aft side of the hole with JB Weld. Once cured, sand the aft side flat. It will never fall out and once you prime and paint the front side, you will never know it is there!

Another option is to put an oops rivet in there that requires very little countersink. You can smash it flat enough that it won’t really be a problem for the cover.