i think i read on here somewhere that rivets (or rivet heads) are installed in a molten state... so does that mean that they're essentially "welded" in the hole?

i'm currently "stuck" (and frustrated) trying to figure out best approach for removing the forward-most spring pins in the rear leaf packs. as we all know, there's that d@mn x-member installed right where the access hole is in the frame.

decided i would just remove the brackets and started by grinding the head off one of the rivets. broke a couple of bits, and trying to pound out shaft (sideways) to no avail. so now i'm thinking that this isn't the best plan, esp. as the rivets on the front side of the brackets will be even harder to get to because of the rear bracket for the sidesteps. plus the brackets are ribbed, not flat, and mounted vertically.

so now i'm wondering if i should just grind the 12 rivets off that x-member and remove it temporarily. since it is mounted horizontally, it would be much easier to pound them out from the frame rails from above/below... unless they are welded/melded with surrounding metal and do actually need to be drilled out, then i'd rather do the 8 for the brackets.

plan C is to just cut the back half of the x-member out allowing access to pin hole. this would be easiest in some ways, but would look all hacked up when done, esp. since i'd have to cut the lower support brackets, too. and actually not that easy with those compound curves and creases in the stamped steel.

if only Ford would've mounted that x-member just a few inches forward!!!

GAH!

 

I'd suggest you leave your rivets alone and instead make a pin puller to remove the spring pins. Described in this old thread. Stu

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...tml?styleid=16

Edit - if all you screwed with was one rivet, drill the shaft half way then use a drift and BFH to drive it out. That allows the shaft to collapse away from the walls of the holes. Then put a grade 8 bolt and nut in the hole. Stu

 

Here are the tools I used to remove the rivets

But I pulled the pins by screwing a bolt in and using a slide hammer

 

no tap & die set for the NPT ... i did, however, try that method with 3/8"-16 all-thread since it was referenced as "close enough", but all that happened (three different times) was the rod threads just got jacked as i tightened it down.

 

so you heated the heads and then pounded them through? is that a MAPP torch? hadn't thought about that...

if you were able to pull the pins, then why remove rivets?

 

I find this thread riveting.

 

I used the frame from a 65 donor truck for xmembers and boxing plates on my 49 and another project I did a few years ago I also found that cuting the heads off with a plasma cuter was the fastest way to get rivets out but can damage the area around the rivet
And no that is a propane not map map is hotter and in a yellow bottle
And the drive pin is 5/8 with a point ground to about 3/8 another FTE member had thread about this same problem

 

The success to a good rivet set or removal requires a good solid buck.

 

I absolutely agree on rivet setting, but on removal a good sharp bit with the technique I described above requires nothing more than a brace to limit rebound. I bought one of the cheap HF rams to help with that. Rivet replacement supplies and instructions are available at Big Flats Rivets. Stu

Big Flats Rivet - Home

 

I cut a cross in the rivet head with a cutoff wheel and then it's easier to chisel off the 4 quarters flush. I then drive the rivet out with a drift. I removed my front engine mount and tranny crossmember this way.

Note that I remounted my tranny crossmember with 3/8 in Button Head screws as to not mess up the twisting action it helps prevent. This way it's removable in case I need to work on the transmission. The Button Heads screws look like rivets from 20 feet away in the dark if you squint.

 

This is what I have done in the subject

https://dinnerhillspeedshop.blogspot...label/Riveting

 

GoldCo now you have gone and done it. You have brought up a topic that many of us have wrestled with for many hours. You will find a large variety of tools, snake oils and techniques that each of us have used successfully. I think the level of success for any given solution depends upon the condition of our truck. Mine was a well abused rust bucket from Minnesota. The rivets were all "stuck" to put it mildly. I used every suggestion that I could find here on FTE. I finally had to:

1. Grind the top of the rivet flat.
2. Carefully center punch the rivet head.
3. Drill a pilot hole then drill a larger hole just slightly smaller than the rivet shaft. You don't have to drill all the way through just past the bottom of the metal plates being held together. Use Cobalt grade drill bits.
4. Use an air chisel to knock off the rivet head.
5. Then use a punch to knock out what is left of the rivet from the hole. This is why you don't want to drill all the way through the rivet because it provides a pocket to support your punch. Occasionally I needed to switch to a pointed chisel on my air chisel to knock one out completely.

Now that is the hard way. The easy way I discovered on my last rivet (of course it was the last one ) is to use a plasma cutter. Clean off the rivet head with a wire wheel then aim the plasma stream at the side of the rivet and move it to the vertical after you get an arc. I was surprised as the rivet just fell out of the hole with very little discoloration of the frame pieces.

In short rivets are a most effective way of holding together frame pieces. Don't take them out unless you have to do so.