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Dave White RV-7 Build Site
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Date: 6-30-2010
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Number of Hours: 2.50
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Manual Reference:
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Brief Description: Correcting significant rivet error
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After several weeks of other distractions, coupled with a period of chewing over a key mis-set rivet in the horizontal stabiliser skeleton structure, I finally came back to the project today and achieved a lot. Kevin came over and helped me to carefully drill out a rivet and re-set it. This was a significant strructural fastener, one of four attaching the inner LH ribs to the forward HS spar and stiffener. I had mis-set it once already - the rivet set slipped and ruined the head - and on removing that on my own I had failed to be sufficiently careful when using a pin punch to drive out the rivet shank once I'd drilled off the head. Consequently a rib flange had slightly deformed, and when I tried to re-set the rivet (again solo) I ended up with a flange which did not sit flush against the rest of the structure.
Completely unacceptable.
So, I did what I should have done in the first place and called for another pair of hands. Kevin held the skeleton steady, and the bucking bar in place to react the forces, as I carefully drilled the top off the offending rivet for the second time and carefully drove out the shank with pin hammer and pin punch. This time I had also taken the time to drill a #40 (3/32") hole into the #30 (1/8") rivet shank to ensure that the pin punch did not slip, and out it came nice and smoothly.
The problem then was to set a rivet without further distorting the deformed rib flange, and this is where the flash of inspiration I'd had a couple of days earlier came into play. It seems obvious now that I'm not fretting and kicking myself, but of course it doesn't matter which way the rivet goes through the structure - all I had to do was insert the rivet the opposite way to all the others, with the rivet gun on the same side as the deformation, and it was drawn together as the rivet set.
Simple, and such a relief. :-)
We were on a roll, and so began rivetting the central nose ribs onto the skins on using 3/32" (AN426AD3-3.5) flush rivets.
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One side rivetted on
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Alternatng clecos and set rivets.
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Another view - I can't resist...
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