Rivets for the corner casting - what where and how

Hi all,

At the end of the last season I had someone replace the port/aft corner casting on my H16. He did everything except put in the rivets. The trampoline is back on and tightened up, I just need to put rivets in.

What size rivets do I put in? Where do I put them? (Photos appreciated). How do I put them in? Do I use hot rivets or cold rivets? What is a rivet tool and how do I use it? Where can I buy rivets and rivet tool? (Links appreciated). As you can tell I have never put in a rivet, hot or cold, in my life.

-Paris.

_________________
-----------------------
Broward County, FL
1984 Hobie 16, Olympic Edition (kept in NY)

p.s. I had one person make the following suggestion:



However, I'm a little scared to not have rivets and trust the trampoline to hold it all together. And I don't think I clearly understand the difference between using a bolt and using rivets, and where to put them, etc. etc. Links to items on westmarine for rivets and rivet tools, and images showing where and how to put them in would be much appreciated.

_________________
-----------------------
Broward County, FL
1984 Hobie 16, Olympic Edition (kept in NY)

Also - MBounds had made these original suggestions:



But I don't know what pylon bolts look like, and I really don't know the difference between pylon bolts and other bolts and rivets.

I guess I'm just looking for some spoon-feeding here, with pictures and links to products, etc. so I don't screw this up and have my Hobie come apart in the water

_________________
-----------------------
Broward County, FL
1984 Hobie 16, Olympic Edition (kept in NY)

There's a rivet guide on p. 49 of the parts catalog (download online from Hobie); the corner castings take 6 rivets each to hold them to the cross bars.

The rivets are pop rivets - stainless steel or monel, not aluminum (not strong enough); you need a tool that can do stainless steel rivets. Apparently most of the tools at hardware tools aren't beefy enough to do anything but aluminum very easily. Rather than buying a tool, I'm going to take the front and rear cross bars and castings to a mechanic who can do the job.

Pylon bolts are shown on p. 48. They go thru the large holes in the castings. 6 smaller rivet holes should also be visible in the castings. I know I've seen someone's picture on the forum of the castings showing the rivet holes. There's also a video from Surf City Catamarans (I believe) showing how to drill out old rivets and reinstall new ones.

_________________
Bruce

Bruce - thanks for this. Any idea of part numbers for equivalent bolts and rivets from westmarine? And an acceptable rivet tool from westmarine?

_________________
-----------------------
Broward County, FL
1984 Hobie 16, Olympic Edition (kept in NY)

You can use a basic hardware store hand rivet tool (~$20) to pop stainless steel rivets, but it takes a lot of hand strength. If you're only doing a couple rivets, it's probably not worth the expense of a high-power rivet gun. I've actually modified one of those tools by welding some bar to the handles to act as extensions for more leverage during the pull. It works OK. You also have to be real careful with some of these tools as the rivet mandrel can shoot out of the back of the tool when the rivet pops. Wear safety glasses.

sm

Sorry, Paris, I don't know the parts numbers for West Marine.

The rivets I received from Hobie are designated 6-8 pn hd, part # 80111231 (pan head?); they measure 3/16 x 5/8" + as measured from under the head to the end of the shaft.

_________________
Bruce

This is a pylon bolt:


It's what holds the trampoline frame on to the hulls via the pylons (the aluminum post that sticks up out of the hulls). They're pretty big - 1/2" diam by about 5" long.

The rivets used in constructing Hobie Cats are "blind" or "pop" rivets. They are set cold.

This link will show you what they look like and how they are set: http://school.mech.uwa.edu.au/~nscott/How_to_do_stuff/hand_tools/

The ones used on the corner castings are 3/16" diameter, 1/2" long, stainless steel or Monel. You can buy them one at a time from a Hobie Dealer or order them online (larger quantities) from any number of places. They are expensive in small quantities.

The proper type are not sold at home improvement stores (Lowe's, Home Depot). DO NOT be tempted to use aluminum rivets. They aren't strong enough.

Rivet tools - 3/16" stainless pop rivets are hard to pull/pop. While the rivet tools sold at Home D and Lowe's will work, your hands will wish you had something better.
This is similar to what I bought nearly 30 years ago:

It will pull 1/4" stainless rivets all day long and you won't even raise a sweat. It was expensive and worth it.
Another alternative tool:

This one is sold by Annapolis Performance Sailing and costs about $220.

If all you ever plan to use the tool for is the 6 rivets in the corner casting, then buy the heaviest duty tool you can at a local hardware store, pull the rivets (wear gloves to minimize the pain) and throw it away when you're done (the stainless rivets will ruin it).

Thanks guys - I feel I am almost ready to head off to Shelter Island and pop some rivets. But could you possibly post images showing WHERE in the corner casting I put the pylon bolt, and WHERE I put the rivets.

Also - MBounds - where did you get that tool that looks like an accordion?

Thanks again,

Paris.

_________________
-----------------------
Broward County, FL
1984 Hobie 16, Olympic Edition (kept in NY)

OK, so if I don't want to bust my hands, I should have a compressor and a pressure-driven tool, yes?
Is this what I'm looking for:
Portable Compressor http://www.amazon.com/Campbell-Hausfeld-FP2028-Compressor-Accessory/dp/B000BOCBAM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1271011624&sr=1-2
Air Pop Rivet Gunhttp://www.amazon.com/Air-Pop-Rivet-Gun/dp/B001Z0R9BW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1271012177&sr=1-4
Do I need any other parts or tools for this job?

_________________
-----------------------
Broward County, FL
1984 Hobie 16, Olympic Edition (kept in NY)

OK I found someone in the US who sells that tool:
http://www.langtoninfo.com/showitem.aspx?isbn=5010559137015

_________________
-----------------------
Broward County, FL
1984 Hobie 16, Olympic Edition (kept in NY)