loose rivit?

[Christi V.]

Beings i have a side dinnette one of the rivets seem to be loose when traveling where the divider is held.. it doenst leak but i will replace that asap. I didnt know rivits had acorn nuts on the other end of them??

[Pete Dumbleton]

The acorn nut doesn't really function as a nut in this application, but more as a decorative way to hide the ugly end of the rivet and to provide some load-spreading. Someone has to hold the acorn nut still from inside with a pair of pliers while the rivet is installed from outside.

Joy and Buddy on Yahoo Scampers have made nut holders out of PVC pipes, hose clamp and alum end to hold nut against wall during installation so it's a one-person job.

[evan]

For a better long-term fix try 3/16th in. stainless panhead cross tip screws. The screw heads fit in the plastic clip for the exterior beauty cover so you can still install those. On the inside you can use the acorn nuts for a nice factory look. Steel screws hold much better than aluminum rivets over a longer period of time. Install them like a rivet with a small dabb of sealant.