What kind of rivets do I use after I raise the roof

[toasterman12]

I'm new to the rivet game. I'm doing a 20 inch raise on Thanksgiving weekend 2016. Any one have any rivet suggestions for me?

 

[EastCoastCB]

solid rivets are the strongest.
Closed end blind rivets are what I'm likely going to go with.
But I'll be welding my roof raise sections in the ribs. I'm just riveting the paneling on afterward.

 

[TAOLIK]

Good for you on the roof raise! In regards to the rivets, I have used both blind and solid and also welded the skin to the frame. I also made a thread which covered this matter if I recall correctly. A few things to note.

Cleco's! Whether you go blind or solid, you will want cleco's. They are absolutely invaluable temporary fasteners. I use the crap out of them and keep on using them.

Blind pop rivets are really easy. You don't need another person, they are a little more forgiving with spatial inaccuracy and the $70 harbor freight rivet gun worked really well. I have not put my rivets through the test of time yet, but so far they have been holding up fine. I used marson 40449 clickfast pop rivets. Not because I have experience or expertise, but because aaronsb used them in his broccolli bus build and I copy people who seem to know what they're doing.

I ended up using solid rivets at aaronsb's insistence in my earlier mentioned window skinning thread. You will need a second person to hold the bucking bar (basically an anvil) against your rivets while you beat the crap out of with a rivet gun. These arn't very hard either but these are really unforgiving in terms of size inaccuracy so be sure to measure properly, otherwise you'll have quite a few phallic looking rivets sticking out of your bus. However they feel really solid and aesthetically look nice as well. I am very glad I used these for most of my skins. They were a more work to put on then the blind rivets, but you only have to do it once. I used a boulderfly 4x rivetgun which put me back about $225.

As far as thickness goes I believe I used 3/16 diameter for both.

Good luck!

 

[jazty]

Mmmm yeah. I used solid rivets (mostly 3/16" diameter) for everything except for the impossible to reach locations. I'm personally a big fan. They're cheap, strong and look great. On the downside, they require two people for many applications, the action is Loud and if they go sideways they can make a mess of the surrounding steel.

 

[milkmania]

Wrong thread