Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Larry Hursh on March 7, 2009 at 8:08am

I say you would be wasting a lot of time trying to fill them. It does virtually nothing to help either appearance or functionality of the rivet. I'd move on to other more important things than this. Just my humble opinion.

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Permalink Reply by Joe Hopwood on March 7, 2009 at 11:23am

I have never even considered filling holes until the other day when someone asked what I was going to do about them. I like your opinion Larry. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Larry Hursh on March 7, 2009 at 12:28pm

Hi Joe. I follow several different websites and this subject came up. An A & P said what I told you that it does nothing to help the plane go faster. He went on to say if you didn't use some type of epoxy in them, chances are it wouldn't stick in the hole. He asked a very simple question too that shed good light for me. His question was: If you ever need to drill out that rivet for replacement, how is the drillbit going to center itself so the rivets comes out precisely? That was all I needed to read. Even after that statement, you should have read all the bantering that went on back and forth. It got to the point that too much testosterone was being tossed around and the main point was totally lost. I for one stopped reading the posts and decided to get out to the shop to do something CONSTRUCTIVE with my time like drill more holes and pull more rivets. :) It sure did put me another hour closer to my final goal!

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Permalink Reply by Joe Hopwood on March 8, 2009 at 7:11am

Thanks Larry!

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Permalink Reply by Taylor Ogden on March 8, 2009 at 11:49pm

I remember reading about someone who not only filled the rivets (with plain ol' bond I think) but also took the time to put a little depression in the center of each one so it appeared to be a solid rivet! They said there was no appreciable performance difference, but it basically eliminated the comments from people looking at his plane and asking why he used "pop rivets" instead of "real rivets".....

As fo the comment about drilling rivets out, I can't believe that epoxy or bondo would give enough resistance to make the rivet drill off center. That sounds like an off the cuff comment from someone that's trying to bolster his opinion. That would mean that the plastic (epoxy or bondo) had the same structural strength as aluminimum. I don't think that's true. Unless maybe you used JB weld or something....

Basically though, I think it all boils down to aesthetics and how you want the plane to look...

Remeber rule number one: FLY the plane.

Looking at airplanes is for later! LOL Good luck and whatever you choose I'm sure it'll come out great!

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Permalink Reply by Larry Hursh on March 9, 2009 at 6:31am

It was to bolster my point and you did pick up on it. As I said before, for every rivet I would take the time to put whatever in the hole, that is one more second, minute and hour I would be that much closer to flying the airplane. It does all come down to aesthetics and choice. I wouldn't discourage anyone to not fill their holes if they are so inclined. That's what makes each of our aircraft unique and different from all the rest.

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Permalink Reply by david shrader on June 29, 2009 at 4:07am

Joe

Just a quick note and im shure this is not the case but just in case it is. If the rivit stim is gone the pop rivit should be replaced. When u said filling the holes i think were all thinking that u ment cleaning up the heads, cause if the stim is gone the strength is compromized.

I my self love telling anyone its almost all pops then explaining there is strength in numbers 1 bolt, 3 solid rivits or 5 pops (forgot exact #) Its all the same.

Dave

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Permalink Reply by joseph aloof on August 29, 2009 at 8:22am

hi joe did yoy find out anything about filling the rivet holes ,,joe

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Permalink Reply by Joe Hopwood on August 29, 2009 at 5:00pm

I think I learned not to do it. :-)

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