Rivet replacement

[mrblenny]

Hello all,

One of the rivets has pulled which holds a connector for the forward wire stay. There are two rivets holding the plate and one has half pulled so the mast hasn't come down on me yet but I figure best to replace that. I have not worked on catamarans before and wasn't sure what type of rivet I should buy to replace it.

Cheers,

Damo

PS here is a boring video of sailing the hydra at Wivenhoe if anyone is interested

[tonyquoll]

G'day

If the rivet has failed maybe look at drilling them both out and putting a stainless steel bolt all the way through.

Otherwise 3/16" Monel rivets are a bit of a standard. They're hard to squeeze; might need a scissor-action industrial rivet gun.

To reduce corrosion between dissimilar metals, coat the parts in silicone or urethane (Sikaflex) before assembly.

Good luck!

[Loose Change]

G'day,

As you live in Brisbane, Bribane Catamaran Centre or any other Chandlery or for that matter, a local sailing club and I'm sure a member there would set you right. Adresses for sailing clubs are constantly being bandied about in this forum.

HTH

[mrblenny]

Thanks for the info - will try 3/16 monels and I will be sure to caulk it up for protection. I will be a lot more confident once that is fixed as I can move the plate 4-5mm by hand over the loose rivet.

[darcy1945]

If you are rivetting a stainless fitting to alluminium you should remove the fitting, clean both mating surfaces with alluminium oxide/glass paper (not ferrous based), refit using monel rivets with a good coat of Duralac (any boat shop) on mating surfaces to prevent corrosion.