Steel Shanked Rivets

[ttbikes]

While replaceing a wheel well I discovered that when a side pannel was replaced on my 64 Tradewind that they used what appears to be steel shanked rivets with aluminum heads. I know that steel and aluminum is a no no so I am wondering if I should replace all of the rivets. Because the shank is steel they are really hard to drill out and when I looked at the the rivets that I did drill out there was no sign of corrosion on the outside pannel or on the aluminum heads surrounding the shank. Maybe the shank was treated in some way. They are a little unsightly because when they polished the rivet heads the end of the steel shank did not polish. And if you look closely you can see some tiny spots of rust on the some heads. Any thoughts from my airfourms buds?

[rmkrum]

Personally, I’d spend the time and effort to replace them with all aluminum rivets. Olympic rivets are better and will polish like a bucked rivet. Dip the rivet shank in sealant before installing, then polish the head. Pain in the butt, but steel will eventually cause rust stains at a minimum.

[Feeve]

To remove the steel shanks use a center punch the size (or smaller) then the shank and punch out the shank. A couple of good whacks should knock it out (in) then just drill out the rivet. This is what we do on airplanes.

[ttbikes]

Originally Posted by rmkrum

Personally, I’d spend the time and effort to replace them with all aluminum rivets. Olympic rivets are better and will polish like a bucked rivet. Dip the rivet shank in sealant before installing, then polish the head. Pain in the butt, but steel will eventually cause rust stains at a minimum.

I lean toward your thinking also but I also lean lean toward hopefull thinking. Hoping there are people out there with a lot of knowledge than me that might save me some the pain. I think we broke to bits just removing the twenty or so around the wheel well.

[ttbikes]

Originally Posted by Feeve

To remove the steel shanks use a center punch the size (or smaller) then the shank and punch out the shank. A couple of good whacks should knock it out (in) then just drill out the rivet. This is what we do on airplanes.

That sounds promising! I will give it a try for sure.

[Aerowood]

Originally Posted by ttbikes

That sounds promising! I will give it a try for sure.

Those are Cherrymax rivets and it will be extremely difficult to just punch out the center stem. There is a locking collar that locks the shank in place that will need to be drilled out before the shank can be punched out. Use a Cobalt #40 drill bit to drill out the locking collar and then punch out the stem.

[ttbikes]

Thanks aerowood. You got me looking and I found this:

http://www.eaavideo.org/detail/video...lation-removal

[Tim A.]

I had never heard of CherryMax rivets, so Aerowood's post prompted me to find out that they are fasteners for the aerospace industry. No wonder there was no corrosion. My suggestion is just leave them in place!

Tim