I have been replacing a rivet or two here and there and noticed that the Olympics that I got fron Andy have a rubber "O" ring under the head.
When the rivet pulls up, the "O" ring most times squeezes out from under the head. Am I doing something wrong?
I tried removing the "O" rings first, then adding caulking under the head and wiping the head carefully to to insure a water tight seal.
Is this the correct way to do it?
Also, Andy will not share any of his trade secrets on painting Galvinized.
(I can't blame him)
Does anyone know if the factory, etched primed OR acid washed the Galvinized only?
I know in the early days of Galvinized Gutters on houses, it was almost impossible to keep paint on them.
The paint manufactures want me to chemically clean everything one way or another and most here disagree, with good reason.
So for now, I'm Dead in the water till I get some sence of direction.
My wife keeps telling me, take it to a body shop,have them paint it, and don't ask how they do it. You will die of old age before you get to use it like the P.O. did!!
I don't ALWAYS listen to her, BUT, she is beginning to to spend more time at our sons home, (he has a SOB).
She has been asking questions like,
I wonder if the Gr.children would like to have Grand Ma come along?
Then again, that might have advantages, HA,LOL!!
(all tho, that isn't what I had in mind when we retired)
I find it hard to believe Inland RV evens sells the Olympics with the rubber washers as much as Andy has posted not to use them. I did what you have done, a shot of sealer and wipe the excess.
I painted my mh 2 years ago using an etching primer, then a primer/surfacer and topcoat, both the endcaps and aluminum. They have used it on riveted aluminum boats for years and there doesn't seem to be a lot of concern that they are going to sink from the leaks. The galvanizing on my caps was full of chips with small and large spots of rust everywhere (a lot of it came off when I prepped the rust was so widespread). It is holding fine, I have no leaks, rivets popping, etc. If the primer is as aggressive as some of the rumors I have heard I don't understand how paint would even stick to it. It has worked fine for me.
Marketing now fascinates me for some reason. Perhaps it is because many aspects of it are counterintuitive to what works in my line of work. I have never met Andy, but I like him. With what I consider a “Mom & Pop” operation, he is doing quite well for himself. I don’t care for some of his prices & shipping charges, but I admire his talent for getting close to 1000 bucks of my money, and I plan to call him up again in the future. I just enjoy interacting with someone who is good at something I am not.
On the lighter side, I tried to figure out what was going through his mind. Moderators: If you think it is inappropriate, delete it. Andy: If you don’t like it, PM me, and I will delete it.
But, I would not mind knowing if this is how a savvy businessman thinks!
Tom
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Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In
I appreciate [you] bringing this to my attention.
Oh crap. Why do I have to find these things out on biggest online Airstream forum in the world?
Quote:
I do not and will not sell any olympic rivets with washers.
But even though I goofed, I'd rather you modify them as opposed to me shipping you the right ones. I can't afford my shipping charges !
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UNFORTUNATELY, I did not check the last shipment...
Hello? Corona Times? I'd like to run a Classified for a new Stock Manager...
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We will immediately send a letter to all of our customers who recently purchased those rivets....
But I don't feel bad enough to tell you how to paint galvanized metal, heh heh heh!
I recently had two items (non airstream stuff) sent from two different compaines. Must have been my month for bad luck. Both were wrong items, however, when I called them, both companies priority mailed, at their expense, the correct items. Everyone makes a mistake, how they handle it determines their degree of professionalism imo. I'll keep doing business with these two companies.
__________________
"would you rather have a mansion full of money or a trailer full of love?"
How many dealers sell and ship their own stock? I think a lot of the 'mom and pop' RV dealers that have a web site use a wholesaler to pick, pack, and ship the merchandise. Don't be suprised if you order something from a dealer in the midwest and it comes direct from a wholesaler in California (like Coast Distributing Company).
I don't mind this because the handling & shipping is usually less. The dealer adds his margin and handles the paperwork, but I don't need to pay the dealer to make a special trip to the post office.
I wonder why the Airstream factory sells their Olympic rivets with washers?
Love/Hate:
In defense of Andy, and other suppliers, most don't have time to check their incomming stock.
In this case, it is a matter of just not using the "O" rings under the heads.
No big problem.
Being retired after 40+ yrs. in the auto industry, We had to DEMAND that our lowest bidder/suppliers sort their supplied parts to us 100%!!
We still got parts that some way or another, were out of spec.
99.9% of the time our people caught it before it got assembled into a defective part that we shipped to an assembly plant and ultimately got installed into an auto/truck.
When it did happen,and it was RARE, there were heads that rolled!!
40 yrs ago, our quality in the auto industry was awfull at best, we built 40% junk and waited till the customer returned it to the dealer to get fixed.
Japanese auto Quality changed all that. We now build world class stuff.
Yea,
I don't like paying excessive shipping charges. but like a seller on Ebay said,
"I have to buy boxes,tape, labels,etc. then take it to the shipper.
BUT small items, like a package of Rivets and 4 drills could be sent U.S. postal in a padded envelope
for a heck of a lot less than $14.00!!
Thanks 74 argosy,
I'm lucky, in as much as my rear cap is not rusted, and the front cap uniquely is fiberglass ( tho it needed some crack repair)
I did some looking around aircraft sites and they didn't seem to have a concern about acid etch treatments.
Sometimes I think I do too much research and worry too much with so many openions to choose from.
Sometimes, just sometimes I wished I were the type of fellow that just took it to get "fixed" what ever the situation was.
But I guess we are who we are,
Thank goodness we have this forum and others like it, that people can help or get help with their concerns/problems.
It looks like the weather is turning here in Michigan, so I think the painting
is on hold till spring, altho there are some things that I can still do.
ol'George
Should someone take their Airstream to a dealer for metal replacement, ask them if they are going to use the Olympics with washers.
If they say "yes" then ask them how long of a guarantee they will they give you, "in writing", against water leaks.
When they tell you 90 days, then you will have to weigh "why" only 90 days.
That being the case what do you do, if rivet leaks show up in 6 months or a year or two?
If you are going to bite the bullet, then do it up front, and insure that whoever does the metal repair, does not use the washer type olympics.
Andy
All is well in Michigan, it was a sunny day, 68 degrees or so.
I drilled out the wubber wibbits, er rivvits, wif rubber
I think I found them all, about 17-19 at most.
lets see $19.95 + $15.00 postage = $ 34.95 divided by 100 = .35 each. x say
18 = $6.30 ---- labor???
Wishful thinking,
maybe he will send me a tube of Silkaflex 1a, and I will pay ACTUAL shipping
no divorce, no bad publicity, and everybody happy?
I had the good fortune to visit Inland RV this summer while on vacation in the Orange County area and met Andy. While he was obviously busy, he took the time to talk to me, show me some "works in progress", and probably earned himself all of my future Airstream business (whatever I can't find at the hardware store).
It does seem to be a truly "mom & pop" business where you are a name, not a number. And his input to this forum has been invaluable.
(I'm not sure I'm gonna take his advice and offer polish sausage on pizza.)
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