Is this as much of a non issue as I think it is? I'm thinking non structural bits of aluminum fuselage having a few extra holes is embarrassing but probably easily fixed/painted over and not that critical. Not generally a reason to get all upset and replace the part. But kind of embarrassing to have on a new part (i.e. get a discount).
I've been watching a lot of rebuild rescue on Youtube lately where a bunch of mechanics are trying to rebuild a decades old plane nicknamed the bird house (because birds were nesting in it for well over a decade and they got absolutely everywhere). That seems to involve a lot of rivets, usage of all sorts of power tools, cleaning up old lots of parts, and generally not being too delicate banging things back into shape. Massive project and makes you realize just how complicated even a relatively small plane is.
It depends on how pervasive the issue is. Is it just two slightly nonconforming holes, or is it random sampling that suggests many nonconformances?
It is not really feasible to test an installed rivet without destructive testing, because usually we are talking about blind rivets, which are remarkably complex fasteners. Think of them more like "small, ultra-precise one-time use machines", not "nails". This is part of the reason aircraft have so many rivets: each rivet is often capable of supporting a substantial fraction of the load where it is installed (sometimes even the entire load), but we install a huge number of them.
The fact that this defect was caught during what seems like normal inspection processes also moves it closed to being a "non-issue". Manufacturing defects happen all the time and liability is massive, so there are extensive inspection and quality regimes in place.
I've been watching a lot of rebuild rescue on Youtube lately where a bunch of mechanics are trying to rebuild a decades old plane nicknamed the bird house (because birds were nesting in it for well over a decade and they got absolutely everywhere). That seems to involve a lot of rivets, usage of all sorts of power tools, cleaning up old lots of parts, and generally not being too delicate banging things back into shape. Massive project and makes you realize just how complicated even a relatively small plane is.