water tight connecters

[mandolinplucker]

I don't have a bus yet so my present project isn't as ambitious as converting a bus but I need some related advise. My 36 ft 5th wheel is too much trouble for a 2 or 3 day bluegrass festival so I acquired and am restoring a 1968 Avion truck camper. The shell is riveted aircraft aluminum. It sat in a field for 15 years that I know of and the caulk around the windows is gone and some of the wood has to be replaced due to moisture and rot. I had to take some of the outside panels off to do the repairs. I can't get to the  inside to buck the rivets. Pop rivets will do the job but after installing one I can blow air through it so I know that water can get in too. Do any of you have any suggestions as to how I can  put this thing back together and keep water out. I had to replace the bed area that hangs over the cab of the truck and had to drill out over 200 rivets now I have to replace them with something. Sheet metal screws with a gasket behind the head would be water tight but I don't know if they would stay tight under stress and vibration.             

[Ednj]

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/5LE72



Blind rivets are closed on the ends.

[belfert]

Olympia Bulbtite rivets are popular with the Airstream restorers and should work fine in an Avion.  www.bylerrivet.com  They are a pop type rivet that seals tight and looks like a bucked rivet once the special tool is used to trim the mandrel down.

[mike davis]

here is an off the wall thought

metal roofing screws. Hex head they have a rubber grommet on each screw and  are self taping


                           mike 

[TomC]

With the use of standard pop rivets that leave a hole after setting, there are push in aluminum plugs that make them look like the rivets like on buses.  All you do is to put a dab of silicone sealer on it and push in.  Good Luck, TomC

[kyle4501]

Shaved head rivets look exactly like bucked rivets & is what Airstream uses to repair the sidding on their trailers. Mine was repaired at the factory with those & you can't tell the new rivets from the original.

[belfert]

To clarify my post further, the Olympia Bulbtite rivets are shavehead rivets.

[luvrbus]

Eagle buses use the shaved head rivet type in some places  fwiw the shaver tool cost 300 bucks new

[kyle4501]

ebay
260207652224

250208987148

370012139187

[belfert]

Kyle, what you have listed will not work.  Those rivet shavers are designed to shave rivets down completely.  The special tool has a curved cutter and won't take the rivets all the way down. 

Airstreams and probably Avions use smaller shaved head rivets than buses generally do.  The shaving tools for the smaller rivets are on Ebay pretty regularly.  The last time I checked I recall the tool was about $200 new.

Some have been known to shave the rivets without the special tool.  I recall than Brian Diehl did not use the special tool.

[kyle4501]

Kyle, what you have listed will not work.  Those rivet shavers are designed to shave rivets down completely.  The special tool has a curved cutter and won't take the rivets all the way down. 

Airstreams and probably Avions use smaller shaved head rivets than buses generally do.  The shaving tools for the smaller rivets are on Ebay pretty regularly.  The last time I checked I recall the tool was about $200 new.

Some have been known to shave the rivets without the special tool.  I recall than Brian Diehl did not use the special tool.

Since it wouldn't make much sense to throw the tool away when the cutter got dull, I thought the cutter bits were replaceable. How difficult would it be to get the correct cutter bit?

To clarify my post further, the Olympia Bulbtite rivets are shavehead rivets.

SOME are, not all, so be sure you order the correct thing. Olympia looks to have a great selection.

[luvrbus]

Kyle, i got my shaver from www.browntool.com it is a 21,000 rpm Sioux  and I was told by a Airstream dealer this was the one to have because the more rpm the better the finshed product

[belfert]

Since it wouldn't make much sense to throw the tool away when the cutter got dull, I thought the cutter bits were replaceable. How difficult would it be to get the correct cutter bit?

The cutter tool is designed to fit in a drill.  I assume cutter bits are available for replacement, but I personally wouldn't want to run them in a standard rivet shaver.  A standard rivet shaver runs at 20,000 to 30,000 RPM.  I haven't used the shavehead cutting tool yet, but I doubt it has gearing to make it run anywhere near that fast.

Neither the Olympic shavehead rivets nor the cutter tool are particularly inexpensive, but the alternatives of pop rivets or drilling hols in structural steel for a bucking bar didn't appeal to me.

[belfert]

I would be happy if someone knows a less expensive way to shave the shavehead rivets that actually works (Other than a grinder and a steady hand) as I have 1000 to do and would rather not buy a one use tool.  There are two sizes of the tool and the smaller one comes up on Ebay pretty regularly as the smaller rivets are used on Airstream repairs and restorations.

[Dreamscape]

belfert,

Buy one then sell it to another bus-nut. I'm sure others might be interested when your'e finished.