Help Choosing Rivets

[karrlot]

I am giving up trying to stop the leaks in my windows. I'm going to skin over them with sheet metal.

At first I was going to use 3M VHB tape (so I bought a roll) but now I'm thinking about using butyl tape (to seal the seams) and riveting the panels on.

At a later time I will go back and put in RV windows.

Looking for advice on how this will work. Also need help in figuring out what kind/size of rivets I want to use.

Thanks!

[PNW_Steve]

You will want to use stainless steel closed end rivets.

Rivets used on our buses are typically 3/16".

The remaining question is grip range. That is the range of material thickness that they will work with.

Add up the thickness of the layers that you are fastening and make sure you pick a grip range that covers it.

I needed to fasten enough different thicknesses that one grip range would not cover the range. I wound up buying rivets that accommodated the thicker material and "rivet backers" to allow me to use the deeper rivets on thinner material.

Somewhere in my build thread is a reference to the company and sales rep that I worked with.

The gent was very helpful and had familiarity with school buses and rivet application. Very helpful.

[o1marc]

I would not use anything that comes on a roll, it's going to be too thick for tight seams. Butyl tape is about an 1/8" thick.

[PNW_Steve]

For sealing, I used brushable auto body seam sealer and 3M 5200.

[karrlot]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

For sealing, I used brushable auto body seam sealer and 3M 5200.

When I was patching holes in the floor, I used 3M 560 Polyurethane Adhesive Sealant. That has worked well. It makes sense to use a liquidy sealant rather than a solid.

Why did you use both the seam sealer and 5200? Do you have a build thread that showed this process?

The thing I was thinking about the butyl tape is that you could put the rivets through the tape and it would seal the holes. I guess you could do that with the sealant, it would just have to be done while wet.

[EastCoastCB]

Dynatron 550 won't harden and is easy enough to work with.