Rivet replacement

[wkahlich]

I am looking at getting a Casita trailer and heard the rivets break periodically due to rough roads and so on. Is this a common problem worth worrying about?

[Carol H]

Its common to all the fiberglass trailers with rivets. Age and fatigued of the rivets due to how many miles the trailer has traveled will play into whether or not you may need to replace one or a dozen ;-) When I first got the trailer I had to replace a lot of rivets as the caps and holders were missing. Since then over the past 5 years or so I replaced only one a year on average - once you have done your first one you will find its really not a big deal or job to replace them.

[Donna D.]

Hi, welcome to FiberglassRV, we're glad you're here.

Rivets are just a maintenance issue and you wouldn't defer maintenance would you? Nothing lasts forever, not on our stick built homes, our cars, our bodies, etc. Just pay attention to the needs of ANY BRAND of molded trailer and you'll be fine.

[wkahlich]

Is it the rivet that fails or the plastic washer or some of both. Have the plastic washers improved with time?

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by wkahlich

Is it the rivet that fails or the plastic washer or some of both. Have the plastic washers improved with time?

No, as far as I know everything is pretty much the same as 25 years ago.

There's a theory. Better to break a rivet (easily replaced) than to repair broken fiberglass because a screw doesn't break... but a rivet does.

I kinda like that theory. YMMV

[bicklebok]

Any idea where to buy the caps other than Scamp? Scamp has a set for $9.50 that I was going to buy, but I am not paying $12.50 for shipping a small bag of plastic!

[Donna D.]

My Scamp has two different sizes of snap caps. If you can get one off the trailer, I know even a store like True Value Hardware sells them... you just need to know the correct size(s) you need.

[Tim Wood]

Like Carol said they aren't a big deal once you do a couple. I have done several Scamps over the last few years, and replaced them all in a trailer in a couple of days with the help of my Grandson. It's nice having one person outside and the other inside. And I don't think its common at all for the rivet to break, its more the washer and cap give out. But depending on the age of the trailer there can be some broken rivets.

[kootenaigirl]

When we bought our Scamp the previous owner had taken it to the car wash and used the wand therefore some of the rivet caps were missing which led to the plastic washers also coming off. The rivets themselves were fine but yoiu need to replace everything to replace at the washers.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by bicklebok

Any idea where to buy the caps other than Scamp? Scamp has a set for $9.50 that I was going to buy, but I am not paying $12.50 for shipping a small bag of plastic!

You can buy the caps and holders at most hardware stores. I recommend buying the caps and holders at the same time as I have found a couple of different brands of caps and plastic holders dont snap as well as they should onto each others plastic holders.

[bicklebok]

Originally Posted by Carol H

You can buy the caps and holders at most hardware stores. I recommend buying the caps and holders at the same time as I have found a couple of different brands of caps and plastic holders dont snap as well as they should onto each others plastic holders.

Thank you!

[Roy Hedahl]

I just purchased 130 rivet caps from Pro-Dec: Manufacturer of Screw Covers, Screw Caps & Snap-Caps® for $22.10. They have free for orders over $20. My experience in Sacramento is the caps last a couple years. If you replace the cap before it completely cracks, the clear plastic holder under the rivet will still be in good shape. If the cap gets to UVed, then the rivet will need to be replaced as the plastic holder is unusable.

I just ordered mine. I expect they will be here this week-end. I have to replace almost all the rivets as I let the caps succumb to UV.

I'm also replacing all the doors, partition and drawer front with 1/2" Burch plywood.

[Roy Hedahl]

I've received my rivet caps.Pro-Dec ships fast. They are in Houston, TX. They are just what I needed. With 130 caps/holders, I should be set for a while.

[Steve and Rosemary]

Hi all! It's been a long time since I last visited, but eager to make our bed bigger, I'm back and I'm reminded that I should focus on more important things that we haven't adressed. Namely, the outside of our trailer looks kind of trashy and I want it to look like a trailer owned by people who care. Neither of us have any background in any of this, so please answer accordingly. I'm posting here because the rivets are most intimidating but please direct me elsewhere for instructions or other topics. Thanks!

Here's the problem: it looks like the washers and caps broke so previous owner used not-so-smalle globs of silicone to put caps on. I'm sure it looked okay and first but now the caps have all broken off again and, worse, the silicone has turned various shades of "dirty". What compounds the problem is that silicone has been used excessively to patch, plug, and glue in and out of the Scamp.

Here are the tasks I need help with:
1. How do I re-rivet and cap a Scamp? Note: we have no tools or idea. 8*/
2. After removing silicone, how can I plug extra holes so the don't show?
3. After plugging holes and fixing rivets, I'd like to freshen up the surface of the outside. Is this possible? How?

Thanks in advance for your help and also for letting me piggy back on this post -- I'm finding it hard to get to a thread that shows these details. Happy travels!

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by Steve and Rosemary

Here are the tasks I need help with:
1. How do I re-rivet and cap a Scamp? Note: we have no tools or idea. 8*/
2. After removing silicone, how can I plug extra holes so the don't show?

For "re-riveting", you'll have to buy a rivet gun. Hand riveters work fine for aluminum rivets and aren't expensive. I presume you'll only be replacing missing rivets, if any...do NOT remove/replace any rivet that's still tightly seated, even if missing it's "cap". The cap is cosmetic only- it's the tight rivet that keeps the water out.

I'm not sure what you mean by "extra holes"- if it's missing a rivet, that's what should go there.

If not a rivet hole, I recommend that since patches of all kinds are nearly impossible to hide, nylon/plastic hole plugs will fill the hole and look reasonably tidy. They're available in a wide range of sizes, and in white like your Scamp.

Francesca

[Carol H]

You need a new 1/8 drill bit to drill out the center of the rivet, and a rivet gun.

You can save yourself a big head ache of searching for the correct sizes at the hardware store and order pre packaged rivets and caps and cap holders directly from Scamp that will have all the sizes you will need in sets. You will also need to buy some new acorn nuts for the inside.

[David B.]

After replacing the rivets, go to the "Not Polyglow" post to see how to make the outside look like new again. There is a product to remove silicone from places not wanted, and it can be purchased at your local hardware store.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Steve and Rosemary

Here are the tasks I need help with:
3. After plugging holes and fixing rivets, I'd like to freshen up the surface of the outside. Is this possible? How?

If its not to badly oxidized I have had good results using the 3M Restore and Wax product sold at most marine stores or if its has heavy oxidization the

3M Compound

works very well.

[Steve and Rosemary]

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. As soon as it dries and warms here we're going to clean off all the silicone globs and give her a thorough buff with boat wax. I think there are some holes that are a result of a previous owner's infatuation with a drill so I'll have to address those seperately. Speaking of which, I've read of people using bondo... thoughts? If we decide to not drill out rivets to replace the caps, is there a good way to determine if they're tight or not? I've read here that drilling out and re-riveting isn't difficult but a friend told me it's tricky. Are ther any step by step threads nearby?

In the meantime, I'm going to work on organization and try to make our bed bigger (we're both almost six feet and he's built like a barn door). If you know of good remods, I'm always looking for that perfect solution. I'll post before and after photos as we go. Wish me luck!

[stevebaz]

I would do all your polishing and clean up work first then replace rivets and caps as necessary. running polishers and stuff over broken rivet caps is far easier than dodging them and having to do teadious hand work around existing caps. For installing rivets its no big deal with 2 people. one pushes the rivet and the tool from the outside and the other person pushes out around the rivet from the inside. get a piece of 1/4" metal tubing from the hardware or auto parts and make a tape handle for it. make it a foot long or so. then when the outside person pushes the rivet in from the outside the inside person pushes all the stuff from the inside towords the outside with the rivet inside the tube tool. this allows everything to pull up nice and tight. After your 3rd rivet your a pro. if you dont like the way it pulls up drill out the rivet and try again.
get a board or piece a metal and practice a few times so you can see how a rivet works and how really simple it is compaired to running nuts and bolts.