Rivet Spacing on Window Frame

[bass-o-matic]

I'm about to Cleco in some old jalousie windows... The current rivet spacing is about 3.25 inches....

Keeping in mind that there will be butyl tape under them... would you drill new holes in the middle to make that spacing more like 1.6 inches? Or not worry about it? (up-riveting to 5/32)

It's the little things that make it fun...

Note... pic is of leftover window... actual ones are all soda blasted.

[Belegedhel]

I can think of at least three arguments against adding more holes:
-More holes means more opportunities for leaks.

-If you add holes on that window frame, it will not match your other window frames unless you add holes to them as well--see the first point above.

-It seems that the original rivets were adequate to hold the window in position and keep the trailer together--if it ain't broke, then don't over build it, I always say.

good luck!

[Aerowood]

I did, on my 71 GT, because the windows were leaking around the frames. I did the whole trailer. If you want to see pic's check out my thread below, it's about 3/4 of the way through the thread.

[bass-o-matic]

Thanks guys.

I see both sides. It's becoming a bit of a roarshak test. My wife always tells me,

"Which choice will let you sleep better at night?"

I think the missing bit here is the donor camper... long gone, was leaking like a sieve at the windows. I mean it was 60 years old. Avalon, not Avion. Canned ham. Real wreck I discovered once I started picking at the scabs.

I'll have to meditate on this. I'm not opposed to drilling holes in all the windows but it may have just been the fact that the window corners were simply caulked!

[Belegedhel]

Well, I'll revise my comments then. The rivet spacing on my '73 is the same as every other riveted seam in the trailer. Perhaps AS inceased the rivet spacing on window frames over the years because they were recognized as an issue.

I didn't find any more leaks around my window frames than anywhere else (which is not to say that I didn't have leaks). But, if you were seeing leaks with that large rivet spacing, then I could easily agree that by adding rivets you are fixing a problem, rather than just over-building it.

good luck!