Gooseneck repair, rivets

[southcarolinaf150]

I'm the maintenance guy for a college club racing team. Back in November we bought 6 CFJ's used from another club, and finally got the chance to sail last weekend now that our lake is thawed.
Aside from the various little missing pins and parts, the only major damage to one of the boats was a sheared off piece of the gooseneck bracket on the mast.
I haven't really worked with rivets before so I have a few q's:
What is the best way to remove them? I assume drilling them out
How do I replace them, and what kind of tools do I need?
Attached pic for reference

 

[Scott T-Bird]

I'm thinking those are stainless steel rivets. You will have to drill them out, which will probably require a very durable bit. They are a lot harder to drill out than aluminum rivets.

Replacing them may also be too difficult with a standard rivet gun depending on the size. It may be worthwhile to get a gun for ss rivets (assuming all these parts have ss rivets) since you will be maintaining a fleet.

Good luck ... they look like fun!

 

[Daydreamer]

If you still have the piece that is broken off, it may be easier to take the mast to a welder that can do stainless and have it repaired.

 

[Joe]

Found this discussion.. http://www.snowest.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-283050.html here some excerpts:

time consuming but i work at a yamaha shop in the prairies and have found with all the autopac claims easiest way is take the time with a small punch and punch out the centers on the rivet (part of the steel pin left inside the rivet head) and all you need to do is lightly touch it with a 3/16th drill bit and go over them all using a bigger punch and they come out super easy and clean with no damage to powdercoating or anodizing...

and another:

I just drilled out a bunch of stainless steel rivets. The key was to remove the center pin. I grabbed on to the head on the backside with a set of vice grips and used a pair of side cutters to pop them out. It was pretty quick to drill them out after that. I used a new cobalt drill bit and dipped it in a bit of oil. Drill slow. A couple of them spun, but most did not. If they spin, then just grab on to the backside with a set of vice grips.

 

[Picflight]

They seem to be barrel rivets, if so, then replacement barrels with Philips head should be an appropriate replacement.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

The main thing is to get the head off regardless of stainless steel and aluminum. To do that of course is to drill with the drill bit the same size but if you do not know the size of the pop rivet as there are several sizes, start with a drill bit a little smaller at first, then go to the next size. Once that is done, generally a punch with a slight tap to the punch is all that is needed to remove them.

 

[Brian S]

Harbor Freight sells a decent riveter that will pull SS rivets ok. The most common size used in dinghies is 3/16", and the HF riveter handles them. Pull SLOWLY on the rivet, and make sure the length of the rivet is appropriate for the thickness of the substrate - e.g. don't use a longer rivet than you need to. I find with the HF riveter, I slowly pull until the handles hit the stops, open, push down on the mandrel, and start pulling again, and the mandrel will pop very shortly after the second pull starts.

HF Riveter: http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-...and-riveter-with-collection-bottle-66422.html

You can get SS rivets from McMaster-Carr. I've had great experiences dealing with them. (It doesn't hurt they are maybe an hour or two from me, so they ship very quickly…) http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-rivets/=rkrfr2

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Any thoughts on drilling out old SS rivets? I've tried and gave up. Maybe the bit wasn't right, but I find them impenetrable so far. I couldn't even seem to get a bite on the metal at all. The bit just spins and doesn't bite into anything.

 

[sesmith]

Any thoughts on drilling out old SS rivets? I've tried and gave up. Maybe the bit wasn't right, but I find them impenetrable so far. I couldn't even seem to get a bite on the metal at all. The bit just spins and doesn't bite into anything.

Dull or cheap drill bit? I usually pick a bit a little larger than the rivet hole. The idea is just to cut the rivet head off and then punch the remaining rivet through the hole. Of course you have to be careful not to drill into the hole with the larger drill bit, just cut the head of the rivet off. Stainless rivets cut harder for sure, but they aren't that hard to remove.

 

[Brian S]

Scott, I think I have heard of folks taking a sharp chisel to the side of the rivet head, so that the chisel holds the rivet from spinning. One would hold the chisel perpendicular to the riveted surface, so the the corner of the chisel bites in to the edge of the rivet head. Then again, putting the chisel flat to the surface might get the edge under the rivet head, and lift it up such that the friction would also prevent the rivet spinning. I like my first idea better.

Any thoughts on drilling out old SS rivets? I've tried and gave up. Maybe the bit wasn't right, but I find them impenetrable so far. I couldn't even seem to get a bite on the metal at all. The bit just spins and doesn't bite into anything.

 

[Fred Villiard]

I've also had good luck a Dremel tool and cutoff wheel. Just grind the head off nad punch the body in, it's also about the only way when the rivit is loose and spins when you try to drill it.

When you are drilling stainless you must use as much pressure as the bit will stand, and low rpm's. Otherwise you just work harden the stainless, also some cutting fluid, alcohol, light oil, or even diesel will help tremendiously. Above all sharp bit and pressure.

 

[Joe]

Any thoughts on drilling out old SS rivets? I've tried and gave up. Maybe the bit wasn't right, but I find them impenetrable so far. I couldn't even seem to get a bite on the metal at all. The bit just spins and doesn't bite into anything.

In my previous post, #4, is a link to a snowmobile mechanics' forum discussing this very subject. I also included a few of the comments from the same thread.

The consensus is that removing the center pin shank with a small diameter drill bit, a pair of pliers if accessible, or punching it out with a narrow, pin punch will make the head removal easier without damaging the bonded material.

However, the original poster's comment shows a fairly heavy bracket that would hopefully protect the aluminum extrusion from much damage.... which, in my thinking, would allow one to grind off the head and simply push the rivet's body through.

This is an interesting challenge and, quite frankly, is one reason I think carefully before using SS rivets in aluminum or fiberglass applications. But I have and do... and I keep my fingers cross that I won't have to remove them later.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Ahh ... I wonder how I missed that? Anyway, that and other comments are worthwhile. I don't have a need to remove any at the moment. I was going to when I had the mast down last year. I needed to do some touch-up paint where the spreader ears are attached. When I couldn't remove them easily, I painted around the one where the paint peeled. Now I'm just hoping the paint doesn't fail next to the one spreader again like it did before. I'm not counting on it ... in a few years, I'll be tackling this project again, I think!

 

[okawbow]

If you are going to replace the bracket anyway; just grind the heads off, and punch the body of the rivets out.

 

[Joe]

If you are going to replace the bracket anyway; just grind the heads off, and punch the body of the rivets out.

Makes sense to me.