Broken rivet holding compartment door restraint?

[Kistler]

One of my compartments has a broken rivet head which held the cable restraint when the door is open.....One side still is holding.

Any ideas on how to repair this? Maybe a tiny screw into the rivet--or what's left of it--to hold the cable......

I don't rivet, nor do I solder.

[rluhr]

Kistler, putting in a replacement pop rivet is the easiest thing in the world. Drill out the remains of the old rivet with a 1/8" drill. Then with an inexpensive rivet tool found at Sears or any tool store and a box of POP rivets found at hardware stores, you can replace it.

It's worth learning how to do this. It's easy and kind of fun. Changing a rivet need be not much harder than changing a light bulb.

[Kistler]

I'd try it but.....the door seems to be hollow. How do I get the rivet behind the skin on the inside of the door? The rivet doesn't go through to the outside trailer skin?????

Kistler

[rluhr]

The rivet does that for you automatically. You just shove the rivet into the hole you made (the same hole the original rivet was in, before you drilled it out), and the rivet tool causes the backside of the rivet (which will be inside the door) to deform, making it pull tight to the metal.

It sounds complicated but it isn't. It's as easy as hammering in a nail. Buy the pop rivet tool and ask the salesperson to demo it for you. Just seeing it done once is enough to give you the idea.

[Kistler]

Thank you, Sir. It really helps me to tell you guys my problems.

Kistler