Thank you Tuneman!
Been a LONG season of $hit for me... I've had these used boards laying around since spring, and finally installed them.
I went and bought the 3/16" rivets mentioned above, and basically followed Tunemans instructions to a T. Got a few new 3/16"drill bits, as well as the 12" aircraft bit (essential!). No template etc...
I used a 24t blade on a cordless sawzall for the big cuts (first take of half the stock boards). Also used a pneumatic air saw for a lot of fine tuning cuts. And a die grinder with a small carbide I have, for smoothing, cleaning up edges. Also, used a super duty rivet gun, regular handheld pop-rivet gun will prob work,but you'll feel like you rubbed one out for a month solid!
It's a pain in the @ss. Especially when it's your own sled
I wasted all night doing this, but went very slow and continually checked things. First cutting, essentially destroying a perfectly good tunnel, swirls in your mind!
Take the time, lay things out, look it over, repeat. Keep doing it until you know you're good, and eventually it'll start to look like what you expect.
I did run into a couple holes that look as though they are worthless, regardless of how careful I was cutting. Freaked me out, but it was unavoidable it appears.
I still have a little cleaning up I'll do with my grinder, but overall I'm very happy. These are gonna be a great upgrade.
Don't attempt this if you don't have a good supply of tools and understanding, it's fairly simple, but pretty crucial!