The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop '50 3100 Grille assembly

Anyone ever remove the Grille assembly and then separate the Stainless from the assembly?

I'm guessing a Dremel tool and grind the rivet heads,
then for re-assembly maybe pop-rivets or (stubby) sheet metal screws.

What did you do?

Thanks, Jim

I bought a complete rebuild kit from a supplier and it had everything needed to reassemble the grill 🎩

If you can get to them, grind off the rolled end of the rivets and drive them out. If you can't get to that end, the grind off the solid head. I haven't reassembled mine yet, so can't say what the best approach on that is. But I'm pretty sure that pop rivets can be used.

Success,
I was able to use a Dremel (fiberglass reinforced disc), worked great
on the back side (rolled end) of the rivets.
There are screws on the back side ends of the Stainless trim that have some "funky head" on them (not Phillips or standard or....),
so I just cut a slot in the head for a big screw driver,

Those are “clutch head” screws

🎩

FYI, I recently bought a set of bits on Amazon at $13 for my ratcheting screwdriver, and was surprised to find 3 clutch head bits included...!

$13 Bit Set

Just thought I'd post this as it's always nice to have another source for these tools.

I'm going to be dismantling my grill this week- I'll post pics after I finish media blasting it.

Re: $13 bit set
Not a bad deal, but I had to wonder about this:
"CORROSION RESISTANT: each bit has sandblasted finish for corrosion resistant"
Since when did sandblasting provide corrosion resistance? Don't you just love how Asian product descriptions are so clear?

I got a plasma cutter that had instructions that would have been better off printed in Chinese for me to use Google Translate on. As an example, it said "Do not use in dropping environment". Best I could figure, they meant don't use it in the rain.

Yeah, I'll probably have to keep the whole set doused in LPS-3....ugh

Okay, so I finally got to my grill yesterday. The weather is finally getting warm here, so I'm back on this project again.

I don't see how some of you guys drilled out the rivets in the grill- most of mine were just loose enough to start spinning the moment I started drilling...I suppose I could have clamped down the rolled side on the back, but man, that would have been a lot of work!

I found that getting to the rolled edge with a Dremel tool to grind it away was more than just a little bit agonizing.

After losing my patience I eventually moved on to an angle grinder with a flapper disc, and managed to get the grill completely apart in about 40 minutes. I removed a little bit of metal around the rivet area a few times, but nothing too serious. Ready to bump the grill bars out now.

Grill disassembly

Got mine on order thanks Dave