Dip stick door hinge

[Browncbr1]

Hey guys, my dip stick door hinge (67F) is really tired and needing to be replaced.  I’ve found that this hinge is 1.5” width fully open .040 stock that is available from spruce in 3ft sections.  

I want to just keep it simple and use counter sunk cherrymax rivets, but does anyone know the diameter river hole that came from the factory?  I would like to order the right size and have on hand rather than drill them to find out and order after the fact.

Edited February 25, 2021 by Browncbr1

[N201MKTurbo]

24 minutes ago, Browncbr1 said:

Hey guys, my dip stick door hinge (67F) is really tired and needing to be replaced.  I’ve found that this hinge is 1.5” width fully open .040 stock that is available from spruce in 3ft sections.  

I want to just keep it simple and use counter sunk cherrymax rivets, but does anyone know the diameter river hole that came from the factory?  I would like to order the right size and have on hand rather than drill them to find out and order after the fact.

Without looking, I think they are #4 rivets. They take a #30 drill.

[67 m20F chump]

I would consider a rivet squeezer.  You will use it on other projects.  

[Browncbr1]

39 minutes ago, 67 m20F chump said:

I would consider a rivet squeezer.  You will use it on other projects.  

Yes, I was looking at one with a 2” reach, but for now I’m thinking to make use of my pop gun and air hammer/bucking blocks

[PT20J]

Do you really need cherrymax for that? It’s not structural and they will be hard to drill out if you ever have to replace them.

[N201MKTurbo]

4 hours ago, Browncbr1 said:

Yes, I was looking at one with a 2” reach, but for now I’m thinking to make use of my pop gun and air hammer/bucking blocks

If you have an air hammer and bucking block, why not use regular rivets? If you don’t have any clecos, get some 4/40 screws and nuts to hold them in place while you rivet them. You can do it pretty easy, you can reach through the hole to hold the bucking bar.  An 1/8 pound of rivets costs like $2. 

[EricJ]

If you're not experienced with a rivet gun and bucking block, a squeezer is far less likely to do damage to the metal.

 

[jaylw314]

6 hours ago, Browncbr1 said:

Hey guys, my dip stick door hinge (67F) is really tired and needing to be replaced.  I’ve found that this hinge is 1.5” width fully open .040 stock that is available from spruce in 3ft sections.  

I want to just keep it simple and use counter sunk cherrymax rivets, but does anyone know the diameter river hole that came from the factory?  I would like to order the right size and have on hand rather than drill them to find out and order after the fact.

Remember, Cherrymax rivets also need to be sized in terms of grip length.  You can't just order the correct diameter, you have to specify the grip length, and it's usually a good idea to measure that with all the materials in place.

I don't think Cherrymax rivets come in a diameter less than 1/8"

Cherrymax rivets are great if you have a reason to keep a bunch of different sizes and lengths in your shop.  There kind of annoying if you're using them for just one specific small application

[jaylw314]

1 hour ago, N201MKTurbo said:

If you have an air hammer and bucking block, why not use regular rivets? If you don’t have any clecos, get some 4/40 screws and nuts to hold them in place while you rivet them. You can do it pretty easy, you can reach through the hole to hold the bucking bar.  An 1/8 pound of rivets costs like $2. 

Impact riveting countersunk rivets is probably not a good first project   an air hammer is harder to control than a good rivet gun, too

 

[carusoam]

Got any pics before the surgery starts?

-a-

[MB65E]

I’ve found the extruded hinges are really nice and last longer. Tightens the gap on an old cowl door.

[RLCarter]

Cherry Max rivets have their place and an oil door wouldn't be one of them. If your not comfortable squeezing or shooting rivets there a ton of videos to get you started in the right direction. Selecting the correct rivet can be confusing but then again YouTube and Google is your friend. Buying an 1/8 pound of rivets will give plenty of spares to practice with, surely there is someone of the field that can give you a hand, local EAA chapter would be a good place for advice/help as well 

[Browncbr1]

Thanks for your feedback guys.  This is definitely not my first project.  Some of you might recall that I installed my 201 sloped windscreen STC under IA supervision.  I would prefer to use a squeezer with normal countersunk rivets.  The issue is I don't have access to that squeezer anymore and they are quite expensive for this tiny project.  I have used an air hammer (yes, air hammer is harder to control, but going easy and lightly will get the job done) and bucking bar in the past where the squeezer could not reach, and used cherrymax where things were blind.  I'm just thinking get it done with minimal investment.

[RLCarter]

My investment wasn’t too bad, got tired of borrowing stuff from my IA, made a list of what I thought I might need or have used in the past, added the wish list items to Spruce orders to get the free freight (3 orders). I think it was maybe $300 or $350. If you are like most on here you like working on your bird it’s nice not having to hunt things down 

[geoffb]

I did it with air hammer and Jay is right, wasn't the prettiest result.

[RLCarter]

Results with pneumatic tools depends on air pressure at the tool and the ability to control the bounce, counter sinks aren’t too bad, bounce once on a headed rivet and you end up with a smiley face......

[jaylw314]

Flat rivet sets are tough to do one-handed, they tend to slide off the rivet, and then you can be left with a HUGE smiley

If you do have a 3rd hand, I've found the swivel flush rivet set to be cosmetically superior.  The face is truly flat, so you don't get the slight skin distortion from the slightly convex traditional flush rivet sets.  It really makes it look like the countersunk rivet was back-riveted for the truly anal  

https://www.aircraft-tool.com/shop/detail.aspx?id=181

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by jaylw314

[N201MKTurbo]

Get some sheet metal and practice until you are satisfied with the results before you hammer on your plane.

[Pasturepilot]

 I have the tools for this if you want to make a quick trip south for surgery. 

[Browncbr1]

17 hours ago, RLCarter said:

My investment wasn’t too bad, got tired of borrowing stuff from my IA, made a list of what I thought I might need or have used in the past, added the wish list items to Spruce orders to get the free freight (3 orders). I think it was maybe $300 or $350. If you are like most on here you like working on your bird it’s nice not having to hunt things down 

Wow, I can’t believe you got all that for 300..  when I was looking, it didn’t seem possible to put together a kit like that for that little cost.  Which kind of squeezer is that?   Did it come with the dimple dies and all?

[Pasturepilot]

2 hours ago, Browncbr1 said:

Wow, I can’t believe you got all that for 300..  when I was looking, it didn’t seem possible to put together a kit like that for that little cost.  Which kind of squeezer is that?   Did it come with the dimple dies and all?

Here’s an affordable deep-reaching hand squeezer for a good price. 
 

https://www.aircraft-tool.com/shop/detail.aspx?id=ATSRS-3

I had a partial collection of rivet sets and clecoes from when I was a kid. Amped them both up with kits I found on eBay. It’d be pretty easy to build a good set for $300 or less.