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What type of rivet for latch repair

July 22, 2018, 09:36:55 am

An interior latch on a bay door is breaking lose at two rivet points. I assume one process to repair is remove the latch, re-fiberglass, then reattach with new rivets. A forum search mentioned using 3/16 inch pop rivets. Are there different types of rivets to use and what's the best?

Thanks

Bob

2000 U270

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Re: What type of rivet for latch repair

Reply #1 – July 22, 2018, 09:49:51 am

I just repaired a latch similar to yours.  Mine was the front bay door on drivers side and had been repaired previously using an aluminum plate and more rivets.  These pulled out and the door wouldn't open due to the latch pulling away from the door when trying to open.
I had to remove the bottom gasket and use a long screwdriver to get the latch to release.
Then I used 3M 5200 + 4 large screws (be careful when drilling to not penetrate the outer skin) to re-attach it and clamped it for a few days to cure.  So far it is working great.

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Re: What type of rivet for latch repair

Reply #2 – July 22, 2018, 10:27:24 am

I made a repair of ours using a small plate and then riveting.  Use the old holes as a guide.

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Re: What type of rivet for latch repair

Reply #3 – July 22, 2018, 11:19:44 am

An oversized aluminum plate with pop rivets and 3M 5200 and the pop rivet the latch to that.  1/8" aluminum plate works fine.  Plenty of adjustment in the latch pin.  Aluminum rivets are fine. 

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Re: What type of rivet for latch repair

Reply #4 – July 22, 2018, 04:18:41 pm

I believe that FT laid up the outside of the door in a mold, inserted a foam core, and installed a cured inside layer before the whole thing cured.  Later they trimmed the edge and installed the hardware.  They may have used  pieces of plywood where the latches are. This may not be the exact way they did it, just my guess.  Having had to repair a couple of doors though the inside layer is rather thin.  The rivets with a pin are not pop rivets.  They may be called drive rivets, not familiar with them.  3/16 pop rivets are about the max size one will find at a hardware store and they come in different lengths. 

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Re: What type of rivet for latch repair

Reply #5 – July 22, 2018, 08:36:54 pm

I haven't fixed one if these latches yet but here is what to pay attention to on rivets.

Aluminum rivets can dome with either a different aluminum mandrel or a steel one (steel one will pull tighter before breaking giving more clamping pull but can leave rust streak)

Diameter is pretty straight fodward

Length is often overlooked. They have a range to work in for different thickness material. Utilizing g to long of a rivet just leaves a deformed end to do the gripping in stead of swelling the whole body a day making the nice ball end.

If you can access the back side of the rivet put washers on to help keep it from pulling through thin metal or plastic or fiberglass.. If the end is I  a cavity there are rivets designed to help fight pull through. They have slots cut in the side of the rivet and when pulled they expand into three fingers rather than  that little ball head to resist pulling through the material.

If you have access to one I would suggest going to a fastener supplier and not just a  big box store.

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Re: What type of rivet for latch repair

Reply #6 – July 22, 2018, 09:26:37 pm

We got some new awning parts from ZipDee.  Pop rivets included looked like these for attaching the parts to fiberglass or mixed material surfaces. They had slots along the sides.  3/16" or 5/32". 

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Re: What type of rivet for latch repair

Reply #7 – July 23, 2018, 12:27:36 pm

I took a somewhat different approach to repairing loose cargo door latches because it appears that rivets into the back of the door become loose over time. Replacing loose rivets with more rivets in different locations will also become loose over time because the base material is not strong enough to hold rivets.

My fix was to remove the latch after carefully checking the latch pin alignment, then pencil marking the outline of the latch plate so it can be relocated in the correct spot (oem install was not in correct spot for one latch). I then tapped out the hole with a 7/16" or 3/8" coarse tap before filling the hole with pressed in JB weld. After the JB weld cured, I drilled and tapped with 1/4" coarse thread, then used SS bolts carefully cut to the correct length. I can now remove a latch to repair or replace with new.
Note that the taps must be very clean with no oil residue and tapping must be done by hand. One of my reattached latch plates is still holding after 8 years.

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