Bolts (screws) vs. rivets in Scamp repair?

[Borrego Dave]

Tom, Pro-Dec is cool and has a bunch of different apps. Floyd gave you the link for them.

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by floyd

I bought one of these today for additional leverage for stainless steel rivets (or for the weak and old )
$19 at Menards....

Floyd, I think I'm going to have look into this gun as I'm getting into the weak and old group

[mensie]

Originally Posted by Ian G.

I used all stainless steel button head fasteners (hex drive) with the neoprene bonded washers and SS lock nuts on my Boler. The washers work excellent.

Bought all at Fastenal

Picking up this old thread,
Ian do you remember the sizes of all the nuts bolts and screws you used ?

[k corbin]

If you are going to have the time to get all the rivets done in a day or two then you could look into renting a riveter. You do need a compressor to power it.

They are not difficult to use, we have one here at the workshop. It is needed to pull the stainless steel rivets we assemble one of the products with.

On a side note the pins on stainless steel rivets can be recycled. We save them up from the jobs and take in a box full of them. Metal recyling ceters do pay a fair amount of money for stainless steel scrap. So save your old stainless steel pots, utensils and other odds and ends and get some cash for them.

[Ian G.]

Originally Posted by mensie

Picking up this old thread,
Ian do you remember the sizes of all the nuts bolts and screws you used ?

All #8 with lengths of 1/2", 3/4" and 1"

I did get some #6 but really didn't use any

[Gerry]

Originally Posted by Borrego Dave

Floyd, I think I'm going to have look into this gun as I'm getting into the weak and old group

My Dr. told me "You can only tell how old your are by how many pills you have to take in one day".
I only take 6 a day so I guess that makes me middle aged.?.

[k0wtz]

this debate screws vs rivits has been around for a bit. I prefer screws much simplier for me I just cut the rivet shove it outside I save my cap nut put the screw in with the new retainer and done.

seems I read I here a guy did all of his in 1/2 day with his granddaughters help using s/s screws

so far no one has his shorts in a wad when disagreeing that's a good thing!

bob

[ststefan]

I have come across nutserts/ rivnuts or pop nuts. All the same thing. They are like a threaded rivet that you can bolt into. I used them where I might have to remove whatever is attached.

[k0wtz]

after I got the rivet out I took it and the acorn nut to the hardware store for fitimet for the s/s screws came back installed it fixed the other bad ones and called it a day! in 2 years I haven't had any more to replace!

p/o left new caps and retainers in a bag for me!

bob

[Rmw]

Originally Posted by Timber Wolf

I know this has been discussed, and rivets have been good enough all these years and etc., etc. But hear (read) me out. Recently, while doing an interweb search for stainless acorn nuts (for the interior of my Scamp) I found a nice online source of not only stainless acorn nuts, but stainless nuts, bolts, screws, and washers of every kind and description. One of the items they sell is a stainless “neoprene bonded” washer. This is a stainless steel washer with a piece of neoprene bonded to the underside. These washers have a diameter of ½” (.5 inch). They also have “truss head” stainless 10/32 (approximately 3/16” diameter) screws. The truss head is .43 inch across. These got me to thinking about an “upgrade” for holding the Scamp together.

It seems to me that the neoprene washer would give a coverage area approximately the same as the plastic cup on a rivet but with a lot better longevity. I am 54 years old, and while I may not want to be using the Scamp when new caps, cups, & washers are needed again, my daughter (11 years old) has already called dibs on the old Scamp and I don’t want her to have to mess with them either. Do it right (or better) once (more) I say and be done with it. The screws have an additional advantage that I can use a nice stainless washer inside to distribute the load on the interior fiberglass element being bolted to the shell. In fairness though, with a long enough rivet an additional washer could be used with a rivet as well.

This load-spreading is not to be dismissed lightly. I know the rivets & caps worked for 26 years, or somewhat less depending on when they actually started to fail. I don’t when they started to give up as I have only had the Scamp since April of this year, and by the caulk smeared over numerous rivets the caps/cups had been gone for some time. This trailer today is not the same unit that rolled out of Backus in 1988. Things have shifted, elements fatigued & sagged, fiberglass is cracking and degrading, holes have enlarged, etc. I tend to think that a new fastening system that can gently but firmly pull things together, and spread the load over a larger area is a very positive thing. In preference to the acorn nuts & thread locking sealant, I would use nylon locking nuts in non-exposed portions of the unit. The only way I can see this would not work is areas unaccessable to place and hold the nut.

It is certainly not the low-cost option, but just as certainly the labor is a much bigger concern than a few more bucks spent for potentially superior fasteners. I do not see a downside, unless one vastly preferred the white cap look over that of stainless steel screw heads on the outside of their Scamp.

What was your online source? My new 2004 scamp 13 has no caps on any rivits.

[Byron Kinnaman]

In ss bolts vs rivets argument one that I have learned is the SS bolts will break easily not sure about aluminum rivets. I use 5/8" SS bolts and nuts to hold the propane cylinder hold down straps. If the threads get damaged I can brake the bolts off. I carry spares.

[Steve Hilby]

One thing I'd be worried about using stainless bolts and nuts is galling. I once idly threaded a 3/16" stainless nut onto a stainless bolt using my fingers, and then couldn't get it unthreaded. It had seized so tight that I ended up breaking the bolt when I used wrenches to try to unthread it. Ever since then I try to use steel nuts with stainless bolts, or maybe vice versa.