Underpinning question (or underskinning, underskirting)

[Soonertoon]

Thanks for the advice on the rivets, guys. i'll take your advice and use them instead of screws. I need to make at least one of the side panels (from the top of the toons to the horizontal under-deck panels) removable in order to access wiring or to run additional wiring. What would you recommend using to attach the side panels so that they may be removable?

For those asking about prices, the local metals dealer called with a quote of $125 each for the 4'x10' 5052 panels. Plus he will cut them to size for free.

This forum is a great source of information and advice.

For the removable portion,if possible I would bolt from the backside. First , determine whether or not you have room to insert the bolt from the backside. If you can, tek screw the panel on at the locations where you will put the bolts. Then remove the treks and panel. This will give you where to drill for the bolts. Drill for the bolts in the tek screwed holes in both the runner and the panel. Run the bolts in from the backside , attach the panel and then double nut . I would run the bolts thru then secure with flat friction washers to hold the bolts in place while you attach the sheeting. Should work for you

[teecro]

Truthfully I would not have even expected 3/16" C channel to have been used; but your pictures surly don't lie. Pop rivets have a range that they are good for and you should be able to select a thickness that allows for a 1/16" variance. I'm not sure yet if I'll use screws or rivets and I'm not home yet (work on a ship) to look at mine to judge the thickness.

[r&s20]

i read somewhere that someone used Styrofoam insulation board to make his template for the bolts that go through the cross members. he simply held the board up and then pushed firmly till the bolts came through. he then took back down and he had his template. i just thought that may help.

[TDJ2591]

The styrofoam is a nice, simple suggestion. I like that. Thanks!

[Soonertoon]

Good idea for sure. I have a freind that has skinned his boat with Polycarbonate . Its not Plexiglass , rather a derivative of it. they iuse it on windshields , etc. Very durable, shatter resistant material. He said it came out great. No clue what he spent per sheet. Anyone else try this material? Im going to skin mine this fall or next spring .....

[TDJ2591]

Interesting. I'd love to see the polycarbonate as well as yours when you get it done. The challenge for many of us, it seems, is finding available skinning material. I priced the structural rivets at several sources. At about $.40 per rivet, I'm looking at over $80 in rivets. Pop rivets would be much cheaper but might not hold as well.

[OK Toon]

Do you use the same tool to install structural rivets as you do with pop rivets?

[TDJ2591]

HF sells an inexpensive, heavy duty, long-handled manual rivet tool that I plan to use. I checked with two rivet dealers and both said you could use such tools. My hands and arms would give out long before I got many of the 3/16" rivets installed with a squeeze tool. If one had access to a hydraulic or air riveter, it would be a piece of cake.

[cwag911]

Where do you guys live? I have both , hydraulic and pneumatic.

[smoker62]

My local rent a tool had an air riveter and it worked great. Cost 11 bucks for the weekend.

[HandymanHerb]

I made the guys jealous when we had to re skin the top of my dwarf car,after it came off the frame machine to straighten up wreck damage, we finished the work we needed to do and they helped me get a few rivets to get things lined up with a hand riveter, then they said good luck on the other 100, I pulled out Dad pneumatic and they said WTF, I said you have to know the right people, I was done a lot quicker than they thought I would be.

Dad came up and done a bunch of riveting for us on the rebuild and then left his tools for us to use to finish, he has them back as he had to do some rivets on the bus, it great having the right tool at the right time

[TDJ2591]

Carl, thanks so much for the offer but I'm located in MS.

I just checked and neither of the local tool rental places carries rivet guns. Home Depot sells one for $89 and HD has one on sale at $39 and one for $69. A heavy duty model costs several hundred $. These cheaper ones are light duty but should get the job done and I only need it this one time. Any reason not to try them? If it works well, maybe i could then re-sell it for 1/2 price.

[guardian667]

HDPE 40 mill and stainless screw

[teecro]

Hey guardian667 thanks for joining the thread...

How long have you had the HDPE installed and what is 40 mill?

My plan is to use 1/8" (.125') which is 3.2 MM thick on my toon...

[guardian667]

40 mill = 1/24