Frame rivets wont come out

[82Cecil]

Slowly moving along with my lowering project.

I ground down the heads of the front spring hanger frame rivets on the rear leaf springs, thinking I could use an air punch and pop the sheared rivet through the hole.

NO GO.

The rivets seems to grab the cross section of the frame it passes through.

I am thinking now, progressively drill a larger hole through each rivet until I can easily colapse each one. My priority is preserving the integrity of the frame.

What is the best way to finish this job.

Thanks for your help.

[bad6772]

I take a die grinder and cut an X in the rivets head.....And the air chisel the remainder of the metal.....Seems to work most of the time........Hope this may help.....

[bigblock73]

You aren't using a big enough hammer to punch them out, or you aren't swinging hard enough. I experienced the same thing on my 73...I just kept pounding. SOme came out real easy, others fought me.

[70k52wd]

I feel for ya. I have hand cramps from drilling. I had the same trouble, what you said is what I did. Drill, collapse...Good luck.

[71swb4x4]

This thread has some good ideas:

http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...ghlight=rivets

[Dark Knight]

My method is to cut off the heads, heat it up cherry red with a torch, and use a center punch to knock them out. Works every time.

[silvereagle07]

Originally Posted by Dark Knight

My method is to cut off the heads, heat it up cherry red with a torch, and use a center punch to knock them out. Works every time.

That's the same method I use.

[fast75]

i drilled mine, used a drift and a 3 pound shop hammer. be sure to use a center punch to aid in keeping center on the rivet. you don't want to elongate the holes if you can avoid it.

[rick1956]

Rivets are used in frames because of their ability to swell in a hole while still allowing for some movement (in a frame's case, twist) but grip securely and permanently at the same time.

I have spent quite a bit of time riveting airplanes together at a Boeing plant, and although I dealt with mainly aluminum, the effect and solution is the same.

The only real correct way to remove a rivet is to drill the center to almost the original hole size and punch the remainder out. At that point it will come out fairly easily because of the amount of metal that was removed allowed the remainder to give. If you can center-punch the rivet head to get it started, fine, but in many cases the head will be deceiving as to where the actual center of the rivet is. The best case for steel rivets is to grind the head off far enough to actually "see" the rivet shank and drill from there.

Don't use heat on a rivet--It will cause it to swell even further. The only way heat would be to your advantage is to heat the surrounding area, and you probably shouldn't do that.

Beating the hell out of them sometimes works, but at the expense of damaging panels. If you want everything to stay straight it's not advisable. You usually end up bending the piece of metal behind the one you're pounding on without seeing it.

Invest in a few new drill bits that are the correct size, and you'll be glad you did.

Hope this helps.

[Cherub]

For my flip kit I X'd the rivet head then ground off. Then did some gentle persuasion lol.

[nico]

When I removed my bumpstops and did the spring hangers, I ground one rivet off and punched it out... After that, I found a good cold chisel and a better hammer... I had it down to a perfect rhythm, 21 hits with the hammer and the head snaps off, two more and the shank is gone.

[powerdriver 1958]

Originally Posted by Dark Knight

My method is to cut off the heads, heat it up cherry red with a torch, and use a center punch to knock them out. Works every time.

Same here,No damage to the holes

[82Cecil]

Thanks everyone your generosity in repling to me.the rivets are out.

[budgetstperformance]

i removed the bumpstops for the rear and although the rivets are smaller than the spring hanger i believe my method would work for you. i cut the head off clean with the saw zall then ground it down with the angle grinder till i could see it was all the way through the head than cranked up the air compressor and pushed them out. you need a good airhammer with lots of psi and that saw zall was the best with some long fresh bimetal blades.