Olympic rivets

[bakjd]

New to forum so this might have been answered before.
Will a regular pop rivet tool (hand) pull olys properly. Have not been able to find specific hand puller. Only pnuematics. Am in N tx. Availability? No prob finfing rivets.
Thanks.
JD

[68 Overlander]

Yes they will. 3/16 If you want a great low effort hand rivet tool, look for the Flipper

[azflycaster]

JD - Welcome to the forums. Yes a hand pop rivet tool will work just fine for Olympic rivets. I have used one for smaller jobs with no problem. If I was doing major repairs and had to replace hundreds of them I would get a better tool.

One thing that I can suggest about the rivets. Many come with a rubber washer. Do not use the washers, they will break down over time and cause leaks. Use some Vulkem sealer instead, it will last much longer.

[wahoonc]

If you happen to have a Harbor Freight near by they put their air powered riveters on sale quite frequently. They are fine for occasional/repair type work. FWIW I use my hand riveter if I only have a couple to do. I use a Malco 2 in 1 but that is also the same one I use for work and they aren't cheap.

Aaron

[malett]

I have to ask myself as to why olympic rivets are so important other than appearance and even then at 3feet from them you can't tell a difference between them and regular pop rivets.
I base this on a right rear lower segment I had replaced at the AS Service Center in Jackson last October.
When I washed it this spring I noticed over half of the rivets used to replace the segment were standard pop rivets.

The must be indentical because price charged was the same for the pop rivets as the olympic rivets

[HowieE]

Jackson takes the cheap way out. The Olympics require finishing off after they are pulled to complete the dome

[azflycaster]

Pop rivets will leak, properly installed Olympic will not. Pop rivets should never be used on the exterior.

I can spot a pop rivet at 10 feet or more.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by malett

I have to ask myself as to why olympic rivets are so important other than appearance and even then at 3feet from them you can't tell a difference between them and regular pop rivets.
I base this on a right rear lower segment I had replaced at the AS Service Center in Jackson last October.
When I washed it this spring I noticed over half of the rivets used to replace the segment were standard pop rivets.

The must be indentical because price charged was the same for the pop rivets as the olympic rivets

There is considerable difference between the appearance of a pop rivet from an olympic rivet.

The heads are shaped differently.

There is one problem that an olympic rivet can present, under certain circumstances to make it appear that it is indeed a pop rivet.

An olympic rivet when pulled, splits the shank into thirds.

If for some reason, one of those thirds hits something like a stiffner or a main bow, or vertical support, then the pin will break off short, leaving the impression that it's a pop rivet.

That is not a good installation and should be corrected.

The installer knows what happens when the pin breaks off short.

The fix is that you snip 1/3 of the split rivet shank off, then install the rivet, so that removed part of the rivet shank, faces the inner wall obstruction.

Then pull the rivet. The pin will now break off high.

If the pin breaks off lower than the top of the rivet head, it can leak, and that hole must be sealed to prevent a leak.

If the factory did that job for you, then they did, I am sorry to say, a "terrible" job, that should be corrected asap.

Call them, and tell them that you want it corrected, and of course at their expense.

If your far from the factory, a "good" dealer can make the fix and bill Airstream.

Or, if you have the tools, you can make the fix yourself.

Should you decide to correct the rivet installation yourself, then you must also have some vulkem sealer handy.

The new olympic rivets should have a small circle of vulkem sealer added to the shank, just under the rivet head. That will seal the rivet from the back and underside, and if done properly, will assure you of no leaks.

How about posting a close up of some of the rivets that Airstream installed?

Andy