stainless or aluminum?

[Danny4719]

another question guys, my next step for the new mast is to attach the spreader brackets to the mast. The brackets are stainless. They were attached to the old mast with blind rivets. I do not know if the old rivets were s/s or alum. They are 1/4" size rivets, 8 in each bracket. Do I have to worry about a corrosion problem here? The guy at Sintes? in N.O. told me he would use s/s in that application.

anyone got a lead on a rivet gun for 1/4" rivets?

 

[captjeff]

The rivets are stainless, you can rent a commercial pop rivet gun at a tool rental store, you will need a good gun as SS 1/4 rivets are tough. to avoid the corrosion i would use a coating in the rivets. you can get it from the electrical dept at home depot used on aluminum wiring , that may help. Alternativly you may want to coat the rivets in a plastic paint to avoid the galvanic corrosion that occurs between the nobel SS and sacrificial aluminum