Trent's RV14 Build: 26-21: Riveting Baggage Ribs to Lower Skin and Finishing Chapter 26

In order to rivet the baggage ribs to the bottom skin, i decided the best access was to stand the assembly up. I used the low bench to do this, and used a safety rope and various clamps and straps to secure the assemble for riveting.

I thought that i might be able to set the rivets using the gun on the skin (and the swivel mushroom set) and reach into set the rivets with the small tungsten bar. While this was doable, there was a high risk of slipping with the gun and stuffing up the skin. Also, it just doesn't produce as nice a finish as backriveting. So i did a few, then decided to wait for my Dad to do the rest.

This is a rivet which was backriveted. A nice, almost optically flat surface (no gap under the ruler).

This was set using the gun and bar on a low psi (30Psi). There is a depression caused by the gun that you don't get backriveting.

You can see the unevenness in the skin due to using the gun (the wavy reflection).

In the video below, you can see how there is a small amount of deformation around the rivet set with the gun - you can see the reflection of the cleco can bending.

So i waited for Dad to come over, and on Christmas Eve we backriveted the skins using the long double offset backrivet set, at 50 Psi - much happier with the result, and much faster too. The whole of the baggage ribs only took a couple of hours, and Dad brought a ham over too!

We clamped and secured the assembly very well to the bench - it helps if it doesn't wobble.

Baggage ribs to bottom skin, done!

Chapter 26 Final Steps

The last step was to clean, etch and prime the baggage floor stiffner and install it with pop-rivets. I also riveted on the power-outlet bracket, which i had not done earlier.

Once this was done, the outboard baggage rib could be installed. Since i was by myself, and the assembly was already laying down, i backriveted this using my small backrivet plate. Only took 15 mins - the hardest part was getting the rivets to stay in the holes while i put the tape on (as the assembly was right way up).

Baggage floor stiffner in place.

Simple task to pop-rivet in place.

Outboard rib ready for backriveting.

The hardest part was putting in the rivets, then quickly covering with the tape before they fell out.

This is my original backrivet plate - comes in handy for things like this. I just slipped it under the section being riveted. This needed 60Psi to backrivet using the double offset backrivet set - i guess because the plate had less mass, i needed more pressure.