If you've ever had to remove the cladding pieces over ANY of the tire wells, you know that there are about 5 Blind Rivots in each cladding piece. I was wondering, would it be better (or not) to drill the hole on the body a little larger (the proper size, about 8-9mm) and REPLACE the rivots with body bolts?

I don't understand why rivots were used in the first place, is it just easier or cheaper for assembly purposes, or is there some type of advantage of the rivots over the body bolts.

I would much rather use body bolts so that I can remove the panels much more easily, but would not want to sacrifice some type of structural advantage if this is the case with rivots...

Any advice or info about this subject/????