Buddy needs help re-riveting his boat. Probably gonna help him this weekend. He has a general idea of what to do, seeking adivice to make the process easier. Any body with skills in that area? From my understanding its a pounding death 
I replaced the bad rivets in my old flat bottom by drilling them out and replacing them with bolts a hair bigger. silcone, lock washer bolt. Good to go for 3 more years.
basically;
get an air-hammer, compressor, and go to Great Northern and ask for a riveting head for the air hammer.
Hammer the “round head” of the rivet.
Place a “bucking bar”, or a 2lb mallet on the shank (hold it tight but not “hard”).
When you hammer the head, the mallet will “flaten out” the shank.
DO NOT hammer on the shank. You hammer on the head.
Make sense?
Trust me, get an air hammer. For a $100 investment (possibly cheaper), you will save yourself HOURS and a week of sore arms. PLUS you will “do it right”.
Got questions on this, ask. I’ve pounded a few rivets on air-craft in my old days.
Thats good info. Should we drill the old rivet out? or sand it down? Some peeps say its bad to misdrill, creating a new hole? And to clearify, the head goes on the outside of the boat? Put mallet on the shank (inside of boat), hammer the head therefore the shank will flatten out?
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Thats good info. Should we drill the old rivet out? or sand it down? Some peeps say its bad to misdrill, creating a new hole? And to clearify, the head goes on the outside of the boat? Put mallet on the shank (inside of boat), hammer the head therefore the shank will flatten out?
The rivet should be an aluminum one. MAKE SURE you replace with aluminum rivets. Otherwise the metals will have a chemical reaction to each other and begin rapid corrosion.
Drill out the rivet. There “probably’ is already a subtle “divet” for a pilot hole to begin drilling. If not, purchase an “Automatic center punch”. Works like a charm. Cost is about $10 or so. Can be purchased at Sears or Northern Tool. When drilling, if you are worried about making the hole bigger, use a smaller drill bit. Punch the hole and use a chisel to “pop” it off. Sharp chisel!!!
Replace the rivet the same orientation that the original rivet is. Generally, the “head” (round part) is on the outside of the hull.
Again, hammer on the head to flatten (mushroom) the shank.
No need for any silicon or any type of sealant for the hole. If the rivet is done right, it won’t leak.
When riveting, do not “over-hammer”. You will crack the rivet. Basically, use existing rivets as a picture guide.
Lastly, replace one rivet at a time……drill out and replace. If you pull all the rivets out in a large section, the two metals may shift, causing alignment difficulties.
Thx Gary! Thats exactly the answer that I was looking for. Some guys I talked to did mention that “you can find all the answers about rivets from people who work on planes” Thanks for the info. Now hopefully we can find a compressor and air hammer, thought I saw one onsale at an autopart store for 10 bucks. That should help a lot, supposed to be replacing a lot of rivets.
x2 what Gary said, except I would use 3M 5200 on the rivets and seams just in case your riveting is not “perfect”.
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