Thread: Best way to remove oem rivets

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Working on the frame of my 39 std coupe. Is an air hammer the easiest way to get the oem rivets out of the center crossmember? If so, can you recommend a good one.

I did this 20 yrs ago on my 40 std, and used a chisel and a 3 lbs hammer...I smashed my thumb pretty bad.

thanks for any help.

Jeff

i taken them out many ways .but the best for me is cut the head off and drill the center out

Hey Jeff, I've always ground the heads off with a mini grinder,then use an air chisel to drive them out. They are usually really tight, I think when they are installed they "grow' into a larger diameter to fit tighter.
Brian

Grind the head off, heat with torch to anneal them, use round punch approximately same size, and they fall right out when still hot (doesn't have to be "red hot" still)

They're hot rivets, and they do expand to fit the hole tight. The grinder/heat/punch trick works good.

What I have usually done is drill a hole at least half way through first - a short .125 bit works great on small ones, bigger rivets - about 1/2 the diameter of the rivet. Then chisel (air or hand) the head off. Usually the body will be loose and pop out with a drift. I've tried to grind off the head with a burr or cut off wheel and that usually just makes a mess and upsets me to the point I need an adult beverage to cool down

Thanks for all the good replies gentlemen. I will give these a try.

much appreciated!

Jeff

Originally Posted by Oldmanb

Hey Jeff, I've always ground the heads off with a mini grinder,then use an air chisel to drive them out. They are usually really tight, I think when they are installed they "grow' into a larger diameter to fit tighter.
Brian

After a few other (failed) methods, I found this to work best on my '32 Chevy.

Originally Posted by nutbush

I did this 20 yrs ago on my 40 std, and used a chisel and a 3 lbs hammer...I smashed my thumb pretty bad.

thanks for any help.

Jeff

I always use a chisel but have my fingers and thumb closest to the chisel point and the fatty part of my hand is at the end, where if the hammer slips it hits that part, IT hurts but not as much as hitting the bone in your fingers!

Originally Posted by geezer gasser88

I always use a chisel but have my fingers and thumb closest to the chisel point and the fatty part of my hand is at the end, where if the hammer slips it hits that part, IT hurts but not as much as hitting the bone in your fingers!

Soooo, you never heard of holding the chisel with pliers?

Originally Posted by techinspector1

Soooo, you never heard of holding the chisel with pliers?

Vise Grips work the best. Pliers get all sticky your with personal red stuff the first time you miss after they cock(now how do I know that?)

I took the old front end of my 36 Chevy by using an air cutoff tool. Heated the rivets and struck them with a punch. It is work, but gratifying to get them out. I then cleaned up the surface around the rivet, Clamped on a piece of Copper under the hole and welded fill in the hole. Ground smooth and no rivet, no hole.

Here's what the aircraft assemblers do - rivet for living.

Grind off the head, gently, don't overheat the adjacent material. DO NOT torch as some may suggest (with all do respect, since I've received far more knowledge than I can contribute). Rivets by design are SOFT. That's how they expand in the hole when bucked, so torching to anneal is unneccessary and what you'll actual do is anneal the adjacent material, which is a bad thing. You don't want soft material holding a structural rivet.

Punch through the cylindrica remains. If neccessary, drill a small hole through the center - easy enough given the temper of the material (SOFT).

This will leave a clean hole ready for the new rivet, or whatever, and with the adjacent material still at the original temper.

I ground the heads off and drilled them until they about fell out. It is work but they all they came out.

Originally Posted by runway1

Here's what the aircraft assemblers do - rivet for living.

Grind off the head, gently, don't overheat the adjacent material. DO NOT torch as some may suggest (with all do respect, since I've received far more knowledge than I can contribute). Rivets by design are SOFT. That's how they expand in the hole when bucked, so torching to anneal is unneccessary and what you'll actual do is anneal the adjacent material, which is a bad thing. You don't want soft material holding a structural rivet.

Punch through the cylindrica remains. If neccessary, drill a small hole through the center - easy enough given the temper of the material (SOFT).

This will leave a clean hole ready for the new rivet, or whatever, and with the adjacent material still at the original temper.

In my case i either welded the holes up (with brass behind), or welded a flanged nut inside of the frame where I needed to use the hole, so annealing the rivet (or surrounding material) is a mute point, the welding is going to do the same anyways. Probably the case in most builds...