rivet for access door hinge

[loechli]

I have a 1972 27' international that is mostly original.
In the attached picture you will see rivets on my access door rusting.
Did Airstream use non aluminum rivets for these access doors?

I have the same rusting rivets on all my access doors.

These rivets appear to be a small buck or Olympic rivet but it is hard to tell with all the rust.

I was going to drill out and install 1/8 inch pop rivet, but I don't want to take on any leaks.

has anyone else seen or dealt with this?

[rmkrum]

Might be a pop rivet with a steel mandrel (the nail-like thing that sets the rivet when pulled by the rivet tool). It’s sometimes hard to find all-aluminum rivets in the big box stores. Time to drill them out, replace with all-aluminum ones...

[overlander63]

I've seen that quite a bit on those doors.
I think the thought at the time was to use steel rivets to better withstand the stress of the hinge.

[loechli]

we were wondering if it was a strength issue,

I wonder how many years that was done,
so should I replace the rusted with a pop or an Olympic rivet, do I need to be concerned about leaks in this area?

[rmkrum]

Is there room and access to install stainless steel screws and self-locking nuts instead of the steel rivets? A dab of sealant under the screw head and a thin coat over it once tightened is another possibility...

[TheGreatleys]

I would consider using tubular rivets like the ones on the windows if you want it to look perfect. VTS can get them for you, but I don't recall if it's on the website. I'd probably just use pop rivets, installed wet, and sealed. There's nothing inside the door that could potentially be damaged by a leak, and if it did leak enough to cause a problem, it would be easy to spot.