Sunfish Deck Edge Trim Rivets

 12 May 23:

We replaced and added a few aluminum rivets on the deck edge trim of Skipper's 1965 Alcort Sunfish sailboat WAVE, using a Marson HP-2 KlikFast rivet gun. The rivets for the trim are aluminum, 1/8th inch diameter. Grip size (depth) can vary from boat to boat, from 1/8th inch to 1/4, today on WAVE 1/8th inch grip worked the best. Fiberglass Sunfish from 1960-1987 have this aluminum trim. The trim covers and protects the deck/hull flange seam, kind of like a rub strip and the trim also gives the boat a finished look. There is not a lot of flange to hold the rivet, so on may boats the rivet can pull out a small bit of the flange and the trim pops loose. The flange can be repaired with fiberglass and resin but there is very little space to add new fiberglass without cutting away a good bit of flange.

Video: https://youtu.be/sSIIJa_-pts

We prefer to drill a new hole through the original flange nearby and install a new aluminum rivet, and put a new aluminum rivet through the original hole. We can see from WAVE's trim that the trim has been reattached several times, this wide beam area on all Sunfish is where we see a lot of detached trim. Thanks for tuning in, drop questions and tips in the comments below, we'll answer. Cheers, Clark and Skipper http://smallboatrestoration.blogspot.... PS: Just Say NO to steel rivets. Say it. I can't hear you. Say it louder. NO!! Steel and aluminum together set up a dissimilar metal corrosion war, and aluminum loses. And rusty steel rivets are very hard to drill out, there is a special place in H E Double Hockey Sticks for people who use steel rivets on aluminum trim.