Quote:
I know its nice to redo everything at the same time, but I do have to ponder this: If the rivet isn't broken, and if I don't need to remove it to fix something else, is there any reason to take all my rivets out and replace them?
(Thanks to Donna who reminds us to use the search engine. Now I can add to this topic instead of starting my own about rivets!)
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The beauty of aluminum pop-style rivets is you set them and they stay. They don't unscrew themselves and don't generally slip or fatigue, which is why something very like s pop-rivet is used extensively in homebuilt aircraft kits. When they do start to leak, it's generally the fault of the sealant around the rivet or (more likely) the sleeve where the mandrel "head" inside the rivet shakes loose, creating a nifty little channel water can leak in through. This can happen just about any time in the rivet's long life. So, unless you go to a (more expensive) closed shaft rivet like the one I mentioned earlier on in this thread, you're not buying yourself anything by replacing them, and may be causing trouble by tearing out a known water-tight seal and replacing it with a new seal that won't be any more dependable and might well be worse.
--Peter