65 Safari Rear Banana Wrap Help Needed

[rburditt]

Hi, i have been gutting my 65 safari and have removed the rear most section of flooring and cut out the rotted belly pan that was underneath the black tank. i've been doing a lot of head scratching about how i will get the flooring back in and it appears that i really need to drop the banana wraps to do it correctly (can anyone comment on this?)...

it also seems that in order to remove the banana wrap i will have to drill out several rivets in the exterior skin to access the hidden rivets that look to be under the exterior skin. it makes me real nervous to start taking the exterior loose and am looking for advice on whether or not i have to do this and if i do, maybe some instruction and an idea about what i'm getting myself into.

thx in advance for help/advice,
bob

[RoverOwner]

You will need to drill the exterior rivets to remove the banana wrap. I believe I used a 5/32 drill on the solid rivets. That's the easy part. The hard part comes because when the trailers were built, the factory riveted the banana wrap to the c-channel, then turned the trailer over and installed the exterior shell. That means there are rivets underneath the exterior skin that you cannot see! These cannot be drilled out. What you need to do is get a good, stiff putty knife that you can slide in between the c-channel and the banana wrap. Then use use this like a chisel and break the rivets. It sounds strange, but I did it just a few weeks ago and it works.

Feel free to PM me if I can help you out any more.

John

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by rburditt

Hi, i have been gutting my 65 safari and have removed the rear most section of flooring and cut out the rotted belly pan that was underneath the black tank. i've been doing a lot of head scratching about how i will get the flooring back in and it appears that i really need to drop the banana wraps to do it correctly (can anyone comment on this?)...

it also seems that in order to remove the banana wrap i will have to drill out several rivets in the exterior skin to access the hidden rivets that look to be under the exterior skin. it makes me real nervous to start taking the exterior loose and am looking for advice on whether or not i have to do this and if i do, maybe some instruction and an idea about what i'm getting myself into.

thx in advance for help/advice,
bob

The following is the correct drill sizes to use when drilling out the rivets that Airstream installed.

Rivet size drill size

1/8 inch # 30 drill bit

5/32 inch # 21 drill bit

3/16 inch # 11 drill bit

Using oversized drill bits is never recommended.

Why??

If you use oversize drill bits such as using a #21 drill bit to remove a 1/8 inch rivet. then when you try to line up the sheetmetal to use the over size hole, you will typically find that the metal will not line up, exactly.

If you drill out a 1/8 inch rivet with a # 30 drill bit, then following it up, after you reposition the sheetmetal, with a # 21 drill bit, so that you can use the olympic rivets, you will find "zero" problems.

There will be problems galore using over sized drill bits.

That information comes from me, doing Airstream sheetmetal work, for only 42 years.

The idea behind Airstream sheetmetal work, is to take the time to do it properly, instead of trying to find short cuts.

The short cuts, will usually "bite you" when you least expect it, especially with water leaks.

Then you will spend far more time finding and correcting the problem, than you would have if you did the work, using the tried and proven methods, to start with.

I heard rumors that some folks are hep on eliminating the rivets, and will use "Super Glue" instead.

But, as they say in Brooklyn, to each his own.

Andy