1978 Sovereign Frame off

[my3sonsdad]

Since I have an Argosy my Olympic rivets will get painted over eventually. I didn’t use a shaver which I think I would recommend to get a better finish on the rivets for your AS.

The photos show the the result after snipping off the mandrel and different techniques i experimented with to see how they turned out. Definitely don’t use an angle grinder with a sanding wheel. :/



Taking a first pass with a Dremel grinder and then a rough polisher attachment to even thing out seemed to give me the best result.

Again I think a shaver would be better for your AS if you are going to use Olympic rivets.

[my3sonsdad]

Originally Posted by wcronin4

did you use anything else beside butyl tape to seal the window to the body? Folding the butyl tape up on the interior edge I would think provides a good seal.

Just Butyl tape. There is a thread in the sealant section that covers each the several sealants that folks have used. I am using white sikaflex 221 around the outside seams of the frame. As you can see from some of my pics above, the butyl tape I used is still oozing out the sides after being cleco’d over a week ago and trimmed up with a razor once already. You’ll want to research a better butyl recommendation from others as you won’t want this mess on your polished AS.

[wcronin4]

Kay

Can you recall how many Olympic rivets you used?

Bill

[wcronin4]

Kay

Did you use the Oly rivets that had the neoprene washer?

[Iansk]

Hey Bill,

A couple thoughts on Olympic rivets:

- the neoprene washer needs to be removed and thrown out.

- I have had several that I couldn’t instal due to one of the legs being too close to a rib or other obstruction.

- they look great, especially when using the shaver. If you end up using them, I’ll loan you my shaver.

- when I disassembled my Airstream, I discovered a repair of one of the front quarter panels done with Olympic rivets. Every single one showed signs of leaking. Any I’ve installed, I’ve used trempro, like Minno did. However, after the discovery of that fix in the AS, I doubt I’ll use Olys in anything except an emergency or for pure aesthetics.

- definely invest in a pneumatic rivet gun, the difference is like trying to fly with wings vs rocks.

Ian

[Minno]

Some of the Olympic rivets we used came with the washer - we removed it and sealed with a dab of Trempro (vulkem) under the rivet before we put it in.
No idea how many we used...didn't have to replace any that were already there, but we added things like another storage door, redid windows, etc.
We have a Olympic rivet shaver - easy to use and good results quickly. They're not cheap to buy, though, so you might want to borrow or rent one if you can.
We also used closed end rivets for the outside trim when we reapplied it.
We went through a lot of rivets in general, especially putting back up the interior skins. We were good at running out! Luckily Ace Hardware down the street had the right sizes in stock for us, but we tended to order from VTS as a cheaper alternative when we had the time.

Kay

[dbj216]

I don't use my pneumatic rivet gun on Olympic rivets. I found I had more mandrel breakage problems with the air rivet gun. Maybe it pulls too fast, or too hard.

Olympics pull easy with a hand tool. I find them easier to pull than a 5/32 pop rivet. I could also sense if all was going well with the little legs back there and that I was getting a good pull. Here is yet another photo of the backside of an Olympic rivet pulled tight. You can see how much room they need. If a leg hits something, the rivet mandrel may break deep into the rivet. Out comes the drill and a do over. Kinda like a mulligan in golf.

David

[wcronin4]

Hey Everyone

Does anyone know what is going on with Inca Plastics. They are the original manufactures of the holding tanks in my AS.

When you call them, they say the best way to reach them is by email, which is code for we don't answer the phone.

When you send them email, they are slow to respond or don't respond.

Are they still in business? If they are, are they still making tanks?

Bill
Keeping Faith

[wcronin4]

I did get through to Bill O'Dell with Inca and made contact on ordering tanks.

Bill

[wcronin4]

Thank you, Jim, Kay, David and Ian for your input on rivets. The major disadvantage to buck rivets is the inconvenience of needing two people to get the job done. This is THE reason for me to consider Oly rivets. I can envision circumstances where I can’t get a bucking bar on the rivet during the installation and I would have no other option but to use an Oly rivet.
A good friend, who used to be an aircraft mechanic for one of the airlines, had a buck rivet gun and all the bucking tools, which he lent to me. After reading all the pros and cons, I’ve decided in favor of using buck rivets where I can, and Oly rivets where I can’t. Bucks rivets are relatively cheap when compared to Oly’s, they are easy to install and all the interior skin is off Faith making it possible to use buck rivets 98% of the time.
I’m going to use Vintage Trailer Supply’s modified 5/32 rivets. These rivets have a 5/32 shank and a 1/8th head. The only tool I had to add to the bucking tools I borrowed was a 1/8th inch rivet set for $10.
I had three vista view windows that were in awful condition.

Two of the windows were installed with factory buck rivets, and one of the them must have been repaired at one time, because it had Oly rivets.
The regular buck rivets all required drilling out, but the window installed with Oly rivets only required a tap with a center punch and I was able to drive them through without drilling. Here is what they looked like with the centers knocked out.

I am removing the dual pane windows in favor of single pane. Here is a pic one of the finished windows that were cleaned up and ready to reinstall.

Tomorrow I’m tackling the tail light bezels, which are heavily corroded and inoperable. And then I’ll continue to work through the outside of the shell, fixing leaks, patching holes, replacing seals, until the frame is finished.

[my3sonsdad]

You are brave to precariously balance that vista window on the back of a chair....with my luck, it would crash into pieces as i took the photo.

[dbj216]

Well, nothing to brag about but your "what the heck" with Inca Plastics reflects the same experience I had. I too finally got through to Bill Odell via e-mail and got my tanks ordered. I wonder if they have all the business they can handle with OEMs and don't prioritize individual orders. They would do better if they improved their customer service.

You are wise to use solid (bucked) rivets where you can. It takes a bit of practice to get good at it so you don't over squeeze, or dent the skin with the tool.

Your vista window looks new. Going to single pain with no "tint" is the way to go. You do have to have a good shade or the sun will be too hot inside the trailer. I read some folks simply break the inner pane, clean up the glass, and then put it back together.

David

[my3sonsdad]

Originally Posted by wcronin4

The regular buck rivets all required drilling out, but the window installed with Oly rivets only required a tap with a center punch and I was able to drive them through without drilling.

I noticed when I used a punch to create a dimple to drill out the buck rivets of my donor window frame it created some waviness in the frame. Time will tell if it leads to leakage but I decided a punch was to aggressive for anything I intended to reuse.

[wcronin4]

Jim (my3sonsdad)

I used an auto center punch before I drilled the buck rivets. My frames have waviness as you described. Don’t know whether I created it or it was that way from the factory.

The dimpling in the window frame is something I never considered.

Bill
Keeping Faith

[wcronin4]

The taillight assemblies were pretty corroded so I pulled them off, disassembled them and had the cast metal sandblasted. I am assuming that the bezel is cast aluminum.



When I removed them they were held on by pop rivets.



What is different is the pop rivets fit into a closed opening. My plan is to drill out the pop rivet remnants and reinstall in the same fashion. What I don't know is what size this rivet is.

But I'm curious about drilling out holes and reinstalling with self tapping screws. Anyone tried that?

Vintage Trailer Supply has all the replacement parts for these taillights.

Bill

[my3sonsdad]

I’ve seen it stated elsewhere that AS used only 5/32 and 1/8 rivets. Do you have some 1/8 rivets that you can check for fit?

[wcronin4]

Jim - my thoughts were to clean out the mounting holes in the tail light housings and attempt putting in another 1/8th inch pop rivet and test for fit,

If the holes need to be drilled out more, then I’ll consider a self tapping screws.

When I removed the tail light housings, I noticed a lack of sealer to prevent water damage. Evidence abounds that the water was getting into interior through the housings. When I reinstall, I’ll correct that.

Bill

[wcronin4]

Jim, I have some 1/8 inch pop rivets and they fit well. Using rivets to anchor the housing just doesn’t seem adequate considering the weight of the housing.

Bill

[wcronin4]

Hey everyone

Made a trip to Tavares to finalize Hope's.frame design. Josh Turner of T3 Custom Fabrication, wanted info related to where the redesigned holding tanks were going to be installed. When I arrived on Saturday he had been taking final measurements and preparing for the build.

On Sunday, Josh had the main portion of the frame constructed. Adding outriggers and the axle plates are the next step.



Shows the vista view windows mounted with Clecoes




By next weekend, the frame should be ready for tanks and axles, But I can't find out when the tanks and axles will be shipped.

Questions:

1. Has anyone tried to use self drilling bolts to anchor the subfloor to the frame?

2. I need to order aluminum sheeting for the underbelly. And I need sheeting 61 1/2" wide. Does anyone have a source?

Bill
Keeping Faith

[wcronin4]

Continuing on from the previous post, here is a link to VTS and the self drilling bolt they suggest for putting down new flooring.

https://www.vintagetrailersupply.com...-p/vts-387.htm

And here is a pic of the old bolt that AS used. I am assuming that you first had to drill a hole and the self tapping bolt would thread the opening.



Since I am working with a new frame, the self drilling bolt seems like it would do the trick.

Anyone have any experience with them?