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I've repaired about half dozen rivets. Replacements are easy to find at most hardware stores. I picked up my last pack at a local Ace. Sometime you don't have to fully drill out the old one, just take it far enough back to lightly punch out the rest, or if the backside is accessible, grab the stub with vice grips and work it out, assuming of course that what's left toward the front isn't expanded in the hole. I prefer to not drill all the way through unless I can see the drill is remaining centered. Drilling it part way and punching it out reduces the chance of the drill wandering off center and enlarging the hole. Be very careful with the punch trick if the rivet is going through the thin skin. My broken rivets have been on my slide edge trim. Another trick is to use a slightly undersized drill, then tap out what's left. Use your judgement as to what method works best for the place you are working. If there isn't much backing, or you aren't sure, then don't "punch" because you don't want to put divots in your skin. The hardest ones to drill out are the ones where the center pin is still in place. For those I've tried to gentle tap on the pin to see if I can drive it out first. Using a small drill to try to drill alongside the pin to release it can work, but you have to be very careful not to break the drill bit.
If you are careful, it isn't as hard as it sounds.
Odds are they are aluminum rivets. If they are don't replace with steel or you could end up with galvanic corrosion. It's easy to tell. Broken steel ones will rust. You may find the ones you get at the hardware store have a slightly different sized head from the factory ones. As long as it's close you are ok.
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Tom and Pris M. along with Buddy the 18 year old Siamese cat
1998 Safari Serengeti 3706, 300HP Cat 3126 Allison 3060, 900 watts of Solar.
Dragging four telescopes around the US in search of dark skies.
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