Hi All,
I mentioned in the Lounge area that I needed to replace the cast gooseneck due to a broken eye. The folks at Dwyer were super responsive and I received the part in ONE day! Now that I have the part, I could use a little advice on how to remove the existing rivits from the boom. Can they be drilled out or should I try to cut the heads off?
Marty K.
(achin' to get in the water!)
I usually grind mine off with a Dremel, but a drill will work also, especially if they are aluminum. Do you have a rivet tool to install the new ones? I'm not real impressed with the small one from West Marine. Might be easier and cheaper to just check with local marine repair facility or auto body shop to install the new ones properly. You want the result to look like the factory installation.
Larry,
Thanks for the help. I ordered the recommended stainless steel rivets with the gooseneck. I assume that the original rivets are aluminum which wouldn't be difficult to remove. My experience with stainless is that it is very tough to drill out. Should I pass on the SS and use aluminum? I would think that there isn't a heck of a lot of stress on the fasteners, just on the ears themselves. I understand that using the SS rivets would make a stronger and more permanent attachment.
Marty K.
Grind them off and punch them out. Takes about 10 minutes.
I'd use STEEL rivets if not in salt water. Or at least a few steel and the balance aluminum.
skip.
The job is done!
I decided to drill out the rivets since they are definitely aluminum. Once out, it was a matter of a little persuasion due to corrosion between the casting and the boom itself. After the parts were separated, the new casting fit perfectly in the opeing of the boom. The new casting comes without holes (probably to avoid issues with off-center holes in the old casting) but since it is aluminum, it was easily drilled. I started with the stainless steel rivets, but did not like how difficult it was to apply enough pressure to seat them. So, I instead opted for aluminum rivets (same as factory) that presented a whole lot less trouble. Just be sure you use rivets that are long enough. I was worried that if I ever have to repeat the operation, drilling out the SS rivets would be very difficult (I did manage to seat one SS rivet... it wasn't easy).
Thanks to all for the advice,
Marty K.
drill them out, that boom is pretty thin you dont want to "grind" into it
Yep! That's what I did. And one of the reasons I opted for the aluminun rivets is that stainless would have to be ground down since drilling is next to impossible. I had a stainless steel shelving project once that needed to be drilled... it was a total nightmare! Standard, off the shelf drill bits just don't "cut" it.
Marty K.