dandy folding camper rivet repairs

A rivet gun is a vital tool for the long term maintenance of a dandy,the video below is how to use the basic type gun,up to a few years ago i could have put any size rivet that the dandy has with one of these,now age is taking its toll and some of the bigger rivets need a different type of gun to accommodate the weakness in my hands will try to find a video of that type as well.Good little film but on the frying pan where the rivet can be seen i would have used one with a shorter head.

Quick video of lazy tong rivet gun,the principle is the same its just the strength needed is not so great.i would suggest you have both types as this one will not work in some tight spaces.

That's great Mike, Thank you.

I was looking at those vids just last week as a thought came into my head

How does a rivet gun work - sounds daft but I had never seen what happens at the oposite end from the gun.

should have bought one years ago when I had my mini (real one not a bmw).

need to get one now as I think Im going to need it soon.

naedoot wrote:I was looking at those vids just last week as a thought came into my head

How does a rivet gun work - sounds daft but I had never seen what happens at the oposite end from the gun.

should have bought one years ago when I had my mini (real one not a bmw).

need to get one now as I think Im going to need it soon.

Couldn't have survived my mini days without a rivet gun and mig welder

I got the rolson lazy tong [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Both my rivet guns are in the dandy and will need one for new bungee buttons so it was easier to buy one than erect the dandy,found this one locally at £7 and the head swivels to help you in difficult places

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I have some lazy tongs which also have the rivnut adaptor

If anyone needs any tools bringing to a meet please let me know & you are more than welcome to borrow them for on-site dandy repairs

That's a lovely offer Matt .......... I will tell my dad to bring his orange one along with the new ply ready to fit and box section for his legs, I know you can weld too and I'm sure if I bring some under seal you can bring along a paintbrush

Only Joking it's good of you to offer to bring tools along.

I can weld/fabricate anything you need if you can get it to me...

another example of how nice Dandy people can be

wow if I work out my list I could do a tour of my girl and end up fixed

We need to repair a rivet on our 1995 Discovery. Does anyone know the diameter and length of the rivets that hold down the sliding catches for the side walls please?

Thanks

Fred

fred7 wrote:We need to repair a rivet on our 1995 Discovery. Does anyone know the diameter and length of the rivets that hold down the sliding catches for the side walls please?

Thanks

Fred

We have just replaced these, 3mm diameter, 12mm grip range. hope this helps
essie xxx

Thats brilliant- Many Thanks!

I too have some riveting to do, thanks for your guide on tools mike but we could do with a list of various rivets.

I am going to need to replace rivets on the buttons, folding roof bars and roof bar slots.

What kind of rivets should I be getting?

You can buy various sizes in small packets but you can also get kits of mixed rivets so you have lots of different sizes. I'm not sure of the sizes we used, it was a case of what fits from the box.

Helen wrote:You can buy various sizes in small packets but you can also get kits of mixed rivets so you have lots of different sizes. I'm not sure of the sizes we used, it was a case of what fits from the box.

Are standard rivets ok or should I be looking for some with more strength?

We used standard Shaun but some people prefer stainless steel rivets.

I prefer to use standard aluminium, Shaun, as I prefer the rivet to be weaker than the material it's fastening if possible so that it fails first and is easily replaced.

jake001 wrote:I prefer to use standard aluminium, Shaun, as I prefer the rivet to be weaker than the material it's fastening if possible so that it fails first and is easily replaced.

Thanks, I never though of that

You can use lazy tongs riveters if your hand strength weakens, on a bed repair I recently carried out I found that I could just manage the 4.8mm rivets, and will buy a lazy tong riveter as it makes it so much easier, you can get them from ebay very cheaply.

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I use these rivet packs.

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On dandy's you will use the 3.2 and 4.8 rivets these are aluminum rivets I only use Stainless for the ends of roof bars as they take quite a bit of strain both when erecting and in windy conditions. The 4.0 ones come in handy it the 3.2 holes have opened up too much.

I now have my lazy tong rivet gun and it works great, no strain at all.

We do have a couple of rivet guns but were struggling as Johns had both wrists operated on so we tried one of the scissor types and they are so much easier and make riveting a doddle

I want to reupholster our Dandy, so will need to remove the rivets on the blocks holding material at the front of each seat. Has anyone tried this? what did they use?

Best Wishes
Chris