The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Removing chassis rivets

I have a lot of rivets to remove from my frame (cross members, spring hangers, etc.) Anyone have any tips on how to do this? My power chisel won't cut them and grinding is soooo sloooow. Haven't tried drilling yet, is that faster?

i've removed quite a few rivits....this is the method i use and its so simple to do...center punch the rivit so the bit wont wander...use a sharp 1/4"or 5/16" drill bit and drill through the head of the rivit....take a sharp chisel and after a couple blows you will slice off the head of the rivit...now take a punch and knock out the remainder of the rivit...easiest way i have found and quick......dave

Have seen them removed in many ways
Chisel and hammer
power chisel
drill em out
Grind em
Cutting torch with rivet cutting tip.

In most cases a pneumatic hammer knocks em right out.

The easiesst way?
- watch someone else do it.


Dan Bentler

Up to 3/8" rivets I use a long 1' cold chisle and as big a hammer as I can swing, makes quick work of them. Much faster than any drilling or grinding method. Easy to punch out the remnants once you cut one head off. Won't hurt the frame any either.

Grigg

...I don't have one but I know there is a "rivet cutter" that you use in a drill. A friend of mine says it a piece of cake and not busted hands or sore shoulders. I may hunt me one IF there is another project. (I may as well be looking!!)

I didn't take many out but in my experience the drill then chisel method mentioned above worked best. They are too hard for a small grinder and usually not accessible to a big one.

I used the drill,chisel and punch technique with good results,didn't hurt the frame either.

The last few I removed, I used the method shown on the Trucks! TV show. I cut an x into the rivet head with a cutoff wheel, then used an air chisel to cut the 4 pieces of the head off. Then I knocked the rivet out with a punch.

It seemed easier than my previous method of drilling out the head.
But significantly louder.

regards,
Leon

Thanks for the replies. Since some are easier to get at than others, I will probably use all of the above at some point.

Just gotta ask- - - -is there a reason for removing a bunch of rivets? Unless you've got some sort of assembly jig to hold the pieces in alignment as you reassemble it, the frame isn't going to be anywhere near straight and/or true when you're done.
Jerry

I'm grafting a Camaro clip on. Need to clean up the frame. I have a jig and temp cross members in place.

luckily i grinded all the rivets off my frame when i was 14, was young then. maybe you can hire a neighborhood kid to do the same thing......sure was alot of grinded and punching back then....

I've drilled and torched them off. I like the suggestion of grinding an X in the head and then chiseling. I was using my neighbor's expensive Snap-on air chisel and even though he's a Snap-on dealer, I figured it was an abuse of neighborness to keep pounding his, so I broke down and spent the $10 for one at HFT. $10 are you kidding me? I've been using the ^%#@#! out of it since I bought it. Unbelievable...