Attaching plywood to aluminum

I am looking to attach some plywood to the top of my bench seats to then in turn attach boxes I have made to raise the height of my swivel boat seat. I have tried butterfly anchors and am wondering if there are any other mechanical fasteners out there that would work or should i go with gorilla glue or something?? Please help!!

Blind rivets (pop) will work well.

It's what I used to fasten my 3/4" decking in my boat.


How thick is the plywood you intend to fasten down?

what size rivets did you use? did you attach them right to the ribs? do you think that would still work on the seat of a 12' jonboat? i think it would work on the ribs but i just find that the seat is so thin. great job on your mod! looks great!!!

the plywood is either gonna be 1/2" or 5/8"

These will work for 5/8":

https://www.rivetsonline.com/index.php?dispatch=checkout.cart

I selected the 3/16 diameter for you so you can install them with a regular rivet setting tool.

Installing them on 6" centers around the perimeter of your piece of plywood will make for a rock solid installation. Installing your plywood like this will make for an easily removable installation unlike gluing.

can u get these rivets at say home depot or rona or are they special order? what length would i need? or do they even come in different lengths?
sorry for al the newb questions!!

BassBoy72 said:

can u get these rivets at say home depot or rona or are they special order? what length would i need? or do they even come in different lengths?
sorry for al the newb questions!!

Click to expand...

These rivets come in many different diameters and lengths.

Most home centers don't carry the different diameters and lengths that we need for boat building. Your best bet to find them locally would be Fastenal or Grainger.

You select these rivets by the grip range you need, for 5/8" ply and the thickness of your boat seat I selected the .626-.750 (5/8-3/4") grip. I wouldn't recommend anything less than 5/8" thickness for your application.

I really thank you for all your help!! I think this will really work good. Only prob i work til sunday and i wanna do it NOW!! Lol

i cant seem to get that online rivets link to work. it takes me to the site but it says my cart is empty. i know nothing about rivets so its asking for closed end, open end etc. could you try to send the link again maybe not in the cart but just to the actual rivet then i can make a cart.

Go here:

https://www.rivetsonline.com/aluminum-rivet-steel-mandrel-w-dome-head-clone.html

Scroll down the page to the table with the diameter, grip range, and max length. It's a 3/16 dia., .626-.750 grip range and the code in the far right is PR612ASP