(page 10-08) Static port questions...                  

....answered (I hope).  After reading the instructions for installation of the static ports, I was skeptical.  Several people on the forum had trouble driving the mandrel out of the rivet once it was pulled.  Others had problems securing the 1/8th inch tube to the shop head of the pulled rivet.

I pulled the rivet, and, sure enough, the mandrel wouldn't budge.  I feared that tapping the drift too vigorously would damage the skin.  I used a Dremel tool with a cut-off wheel to remove about 1/64th of an inch from the shop head of the rivet.  The mandrel pushed out with no tapping.  If I had to do it again, I'd used a sanding drum rather than a cut-off wheel to remove the end of the rivet.

The next concern was that the shop head of the rivet over which the 1/8th inch tube must be pushed was quite short, even before removing a bit of it to facilitate mandrel removal.  It seemed that it would be quite easy to persuade the tubing to separate from the rivet.  The instructions say to "seal the joint with RTV", so, after cleaning the aluminum with acetone, I applied a substantial amount of RTV.  After hardening, it seems secure.  Reading the forum, I learned that "regular" RTV is corrosive to aluminum and that "sensor safe" RTV must be used.  Most auto parts stores have this.