The more work I do on my H17, the more work I find that needs doing. The outhaul line has broken inside the boom - presumably near where it attaches to the wire that runs aft to the clew shackle.



Short of opening up the boom, is there any way to tie a new outhaul line in?



Okay, that was good for a laugh.



Now, since I have to take the boom cap off, is there a convenient way to remove rivets? I don't have the equipment handy to grind the tops off and punch them through.

No need to grind the tops off. Drill through the center of them with a drill bit one size smaller than the hole (this way you don't risk enlarging the rivet holes). This makes the interior wall of the rivet very thin. Then punch them through - should be pretty easy.

Punch them through from the outside? Doesn't the cap/lid/head get in the way?

when you drill through the rivet, you will have made the side wall (the part that is actually in the hole) thin enough that it will shear with a light tap. Insert a small screwdriver or old drill bit inside the rivet and tap with a hammer. This will separate the shoulder of the rivet cleanly with the rest of it.

Thanks, Jake, that was the boost of insight I needed to get it right. I had drilled out the bottom of the rivet with a bit that was smaller than the inner diameter of the rivet. Instead, I needed to drill down with a bit that was slightly smaller than the diameter of the *hole* to drill out most of the side wall. Aha!



Of course, I didn't know how big the hole was, but just kept scaling up the size of the bit until the rivet began to spin easily.



I tapped the head off (sideways) with a screwdriver and then tapped what was left of the rivet down into the boom. Voila.



Thanks again, Jake. I owe you a beer.

no problem - glad I could help. The holes are usually 3/16" (of course you probably know that by now).