rivets

[awells]

I'm putting a new mad river vinyl gunnel on an old blue hole tandem boat (not sure what model). My plan is to just get some aluminum rivets from the hardware store. Any opinions on what size I oughta get?

Thanks!
Adam

[Bob P]

Because of the soft hull material, you need an extra-large head like this. I can't say whether the size/length is correct though.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#97545a070/=ws2vv7" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Trex]

What Bob said. Most hw stores carry the expanding rivets not the tri-folds for soft material.





You want the one on the right. Buy in bulk to save $$$

[wildwaterc2]

I've never used the tri-fold style putting vinyl gunwales on Royalex. Particularly if the gunwales have an aluminum insert they are not "soft".

Now, for riveting handles or things onto a rotomolded sit-on-top I've used the tri-fold ones.

Have you experienced problems with a regular style on vinyl gunwales and Royalex? I have two boats I've done like this with no problems with it.

I've used these recently on the Howler I bought not long ago.
http://www.mcmaster.com/#97526a160/=ws45dw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Trex]

[quote="wildwaterc2"]
Have you experienced problems with a regular style on vinyl gunwales and Royalex? I have two boats I've done like this with no problems with it.
/quote]

Wildwater2 got me thinking. Gunwales come in many styles and shapes but if it ends up being aluminum-royalex-aluminum it makes sense that the normal rivets should work fine. I HAVE had rivets pull out but in both cases the rivets were installed on the inside of the boat and included loops for airbag laceing. It was a Bell factory install for their ww boats. Look at the Bell Ocoee and the vinyl/aluminum gunwales are riveted from inside the boat with loops. The Dagger Ocoee had the rivets installed from outside the boat facing in. Two different style gunwales on the same hull shape. Can't remember what they look like on your Blue Hole but if you can get away with the standard rivets they sure are cheaper. The tri-fold style did fix my problem of pullouts. Good luck

[awells]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm tempted to go with the expanding rivets due to price/availability. Is this a terrible idea? I definitely don't want to mess up a brand new gunnel set, either....

[awells]

Well, turns out the local hardware store doesn't have anything close to the right size. I ended up ordering the ones you suggested. Thanks for the tips, this has been a long time coming.