[A/S] Popping Rivets?

[Terry Tyler <tylerbears@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey Kevin,

Bottom line -- Replacing the rivets solves only the symptom portion of 
the problem. The real problem is still waiting to be fixed.

-- AND -- in my humble opinion, it will only get worse until you find 
the real problem. 

Start with the easy stuff first, i.e. balancing the tires, correcting 
weight distribution, or etc., etc..

The hard things to fix are limited but may require considerable 
detective work -- and gobs of time and energy.

For example, we have a '67 22' Safari that never popped a rivet until I 
added a second battery next to first one - behind the street side wheel 
well.

Final diagnosis boiled down to a broken stringer under the battery 
compartment. Two days later after dropping the belly pan, finding the 
broken stringer, welding a patch to the stringer and frame, replacing 
the belly pan and crossing my fingers, the problem was fixed.

Little did I know at the time, but the fix was temporary. The broken 
stringer had been broken long enough to impact other components of the 
frame and body shell. That soon became evident. A frame separation 
problem doesn't require detective work to know what needs to be done.

Coincidentally, we were in Idaho at the time and knew Ace Fogdall had a 
frame repair expert on staff.  Another two days later and more green 
resulted in a professionally elegant fix that is still permanent two 
years and thousands of miles later.

Why do I mention all this?

My wife and I wanted every single mechanical detail repaired, restored 
or replaced before we'd polish the Airstream to a mirror shine. Only 
until that was done, would we be satisfied with our restoration.

It has been two years now since the mirror shine - after many years of 
working toward this goal. Finally, everything about our restoration of 
this Airstream pleases us - greatly.  Those few words in the last 
sentence are nowhere near describing the satisfaction we feel.

Popping rivets were the final cue we needed to reach this point in our 
restoration.

Terry