The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Removing Frame Rivets

Hey Folks,

Trying to remove some of the bracketry off my '53's frame. I was certain it was discussed here before, but can't seem to find anything on removing them.
I've tried grinding the heads and pounding them out. I've tried cutting the head off with a cutting torch and knocking it out when its hot, but that doesn't seem to be working either.

So whats the best way to get them out?
Or do I just have to hit harder?

Thanks
Colin

I always use a cutting torch. Wack the head off & then blast into the center of the rivet. It,s best to let it cool a little or you just swell it up some more. You can drill a hole in the center & grind or chisel the head off.

Impressive, aren't they?!

With so much literally falling off my ol rig, the only stuff that I needed to remove and it takes an act of g_d to get it to break its grip ;'}

Unfortunately, all I could figure to do is to proceed as you describe (and I can show you the scars on my hands to prove it)

Good luck!

I've seen an air chisel used. Wear ear plugs.

I Just got done removing a bunch of them to make way for a IFS kit and used a air chisel Its like Tiny said WEAR EAR PLUGS but it cuts thru them like butter. I had several of them out in minutes
Good Luck

Chisel the heads off, drill a hole through them and punch them out.

Or just chisel/grind off the heads, knock off the attached piece and grind it smooth.... that way you dont have a hole in your frame.

Wearing myself out I've tried it all from torch to chisel and can tell you the easiest way to get those big stove bolts out is to get yourself a grinder, a large punch and a sledge hammer; grind the head off and a couple of hits on the punch and she will shoot out like a rocket. Good luck.

air impact with a punch head.grind the heads flat to the frame or torch them off at head

Ditto on the air chisel to cut the heads...then I ground one of the air chisel pointed tools off flat to make an air powered drift punch...they popped right out. No air chisel.....grind, drill and then the big hammer.

Air chisel can get in where you don't have enough room to grind the head. Replace with bolts and save the next guy some agony!!

i say air chisel an i dont wear ear plugs an it is showing i failed my last 2 hearing test so i would advise it

whats that you say, speak up so I can hear you :hammering:

Center punch the head then drill through it with a drill the approximate size of the rivet shank. Stick a punch in the hole and knock the rivet out.

i've used a chisel, and about a 2 pound hammer and smack the heck out of them it works but is a little work, and dangerous-don't missed the chisel or you'll wish you hadn't. i did it on my 49 3600 removing step brackets

I spent four hours today removing rivets and rusted bolts from a frame. I sometimes vary my technique a little because it gets boring sometimes.

My favorite approach is to cut an 'x' in the head, chisel the head off, and then hit the rivet with a punch to drive it out.

If that doesn't work I will drill the rivet and hit it again.

The same approach usually works for rusted boths too.

I don't like using a torch because I often end up cutting things I didn't want to that way.

Colin,

I ground off the heads of the rivets, then fired up a cutting torch and cut out the center of the rivets. I waited until they cooled, then pounded out the rivets with a punch and large hammer.

If you look at the frame of the '59 I gave you, you can see where I removed the cab mount brackets this way.

Have fun, it's not really that hard.

Photo

Thanks for all the tips guys!

After I edited the 'maybe i'm not hitting them hard enough', I went back out and tried just that. Put a punch in a vice grip and went at 'er.

I think i'm going to try using the torch aswell as Photo suggested.

Thanks again!

The easiest I have found lately is drill the center with an 1/8" bit. Then a bit somewhere between a 1/8" bit and a 3/8" bit. Then a 3/8" bit. Sometimes I go from 1/8" to 3/8". Both heads fall right off. And no smashed thumbs!! No distorted metal!! No gouges!!!!

After I struggled with mine, I discovered why some of them were so brutal to get out. Sometimes the holes of the attached pieces were not exactly the same size and sometimes they were not perfectly aligned, when assembled at the factory. The result was that the hot rivet just morphed to the various shapes of the void and thus they didn't want to just slide out. I also had one head fracture in shear, just like a piece of cast iron. I think the hardness varies from rivet to rivet.

That's why they use rivets in the first place- they work a lot better than bolts in that application. They fill the hole they are put in.

I have ground the rivet heads off,then used a good sized punch and hammer.It takes several blows with the hammer,rivet then shoots out like a bullet.Wear safety glasses always.

I agree Bowtie, I can grind a rivet head in about 25 seconds then using a large (15") punch hit it about 2 or 3 good licks with a 4 lb sledge hammer and out she goes. It took me 3'4 of the frame and using a lot of techniques before I figured it out.

Out of desperation, I used my 18v recip saw with a good bi-metal saw blade. I was surprised how easily the heads cut off. I then knocked out the remainder with a center punch and a two pound hammer. It worked great.

Good luck with your project.

Tony

as 4onthefloor said, that is exactly why rivets were used. It is interesting that they helped make up for the inaccuracies of the mass production setup. It must have been a very noisy environment where the riveting was going on.

Blue tip wrench is the only way to go,,IMO. I have hit my hands too many times w/hammers. I use a very small tip cutting torch, off the head then melt out the center. For salvage yard work I use an easy to carry small plumbers torch setup. Brian

i thought they were pretty easy to remove.my method is to drill through the head with a sharp bit. slice off the head with a sharp chiesel then knock out with a punch.........dave

A word of caution.

A couple of months back I drilled off the heads and punched out the remaining bodies of the several rivets holding the rear cross member to the frame on my '41. At this point I should mention that the crossmember had a 4" bow pulled into it. This was probably a result of being pulled out of the mud by some really big truck, tractor, or dozer. So when the last rivet on one side was driven out it SHOT all the way across the garage and put a very nice river shaped hole in my drywall.

Lesson here....The rivets do fill the hole and there is no room for movement when the parts being held together are pulled or pushed out of the original alignment. When the rivet lets go something is going to move very quickly.

I think they are easy too.
I use a cold chisel that is about 14" long and 1" wide with a good sized cross peen hammer on a 18" handle. Holding the chisel with vice grips allows you to really swing the hammer without worry. Usually only 3 or 4 blows is needed for a 3/8" rivet. Then follow with a punch.

An air hammer with chisel and punch is really nice if you have one and air is available.

Grigg

I think an air chisel would make things a lot easier. I found that some rivets were harder to remove than others. I actually bent a brace pounding the rivet out.

When drilling the rivets(any rivet in general) try not drilling all the way through the rivet, maybe halfway or so. This will leave an indentation or pocket for your punch to fit in, while weakening the fit of the rivet. The punch will stay in the drilled hole when hitting!

When removing rivets, don't be afraid to drill through the shank when you have one that doesn't want to punch out. If you are going to put a bolt in the hole, you will need to drill to the bolt size anyhow, rivet hole sizes are not the same as bolt sizes.