Honest... I did a search first...
But couldn't find anything that helped...???

What is the best way to remove a couple of rivits from a 53 F100 frame?
I need to replace the rear cross member.
I ground the top off the rivit on the donor truck but can't get the rivit out?

What is the best way to do this?

As always, thanks in advance...

 

I used a sharp chisle to remove the rivet heads and then took a center punch (3/4" i think) and knocked them out.

 

I bought a $20 air chisel/hammer from Menards. worked great.

 

Ok... which side should I be 'beating' on? The nice oval, looks like a cap bolt, or the bottom rounded end?
I ground off the "top" side, but wasn't able to 'beat' it through. I was able to see the round shaft of the rivit, but it wouldn't let go... I was afraid of bending the cross member I want to save...?
I'm guessing from your replies that 'cutting' the botom of the rivit off is better than the top?
I feel so dumb....

 

I agree with 54fever. I used a torch to knock the tops off the rivets and a punch to knock them out. But if your not careful you'll do a lot of damage with the torch.LOL I'm learning. ..........RUSTY

 

They are hard to get out use a big hammer. .........RUSTY

 

Grind/cut/burn the top of the rivet off.
Large center punch or drift pin (about 3/4 size of rivet shaft.
1 pair of Vice Grips to hold punch/pin
1 big hammer 3lb or better
Good aim
Safety Glasses
Strike repeatedly as needed.
(may cause excess bleeding, headaches, sore thumb and or index finger, if excess excitement lasts more than 4 hours - go see your shrink.)

 

Thanks guys...
I get it.... Bigger hammer....
I was being a weenie....

 

I've removed quite a few already including all the bed bolts which are spot welded on. I found the best way is to center punch the rivot and then drill a hole through the middle (depending on what size rivot it is. Once the hole is drilled, I grind off the head and usually before I even grind it flush, the rivot falls out.

 

A much more civilized way is to use an angle grinder to take the head off (as clean with the frame as possible), then center punch and drill in maybe 1/8" with a 3/8" or 5/16" bit to remove the bulk of the rivet shaft. THEN use your drift and they'll come right out. What this does is allow the side walls of the rivet to pull away from the hole as you hit the drift. I've done the other methods too, and all I did was get mad and bend things.

 

I have removed numerous frame rivets by first using my grinder with a cutoff wheel to cut an "X" in the head down to the frame surface, then using my air hammer (and chisel) to shear the head off. (The "X" just allows the head to fold over itself easily.) Then I use a punch in the air hammer to drive the rivet out. Easy.

Now, mind you, this wasn't the first method I used...that's why I am so sure that this is the best way.

 

I agree with truckdog, what I usually do is grind the head flush with the frame, then centerpunch the rivet and drill a 1/8" pilot hold, followed by an appropriate sized larger bit (just a touch smaller than the rivet itself).. At this point they usually will punch out without much effort, since drilling out the center allows the rivet to collapse as its punched through

 

I usually just torch the head off then blow a hole through the center of the rivet, then they will come out easily with a hammer and punch.

 

I ground the head down to nearly flush, then punched them out with my $10 HF air hammer. Worked like a champ.

 

OK, OK, while all the above mentioned methods work ok they are all lacking the basics preplanning preperatory work that MUST be completed before any frame and rivet work can ber started.

First things first, you must gather up some basic materials, here's a short list;

1. Several pounds of dirt (better if a mixture of sand, clay, small rocks, various animal droppings, road grime, rusty scale, etc)
2. Several handfuls of metal shavings
3. 4# and 9# hammers
4. Now this is very important....a wood rasp
5. Frosty beverages
6. some friends
7. A variety of chisels and punches
8. duct tape
9. a bucket of sludgy, slimy, gritty gunk
10. Grinder with a variety of wheels

OK, now the real work can commence.

First of all lets get the basics out of the way, mix up the sand with the metal shavings, now carefully holding one eye open pack the sand/metal mixture into one of your eyes. Make sure you get enough of the mixture in there to soak up several ounces of tears. Once your eye starts water profusely dip your free hand in the buckey of slimey, gritty, gunk and smear it around yoru face andinto your other eye. Got it? both eyes watering and you can barely see? good, on to step two

Step 2. Feel around for yoru hammers, place your free hand on your work bench so that your fingers are splayed and position yoru thumb so that the thumbnail is perpindicular to the bench top. Now start whamming with the hammer. Don't be timid here, smack yoruhand with all you have. Do it several times trying to flatten all 4 fingers, don't neglect the thumb, make sure you get a few good swings at it (I know this is hard as its hard to aim with your eyes blurry and watering but it important)

Step 3. Dance around and shake hand furiously (cussing is optional)

Step 4. With your throbbing hand graps the wood rasp firmly and work it back and forth across the knuckles of your other hand. You don't have to go down to the bone but you want to go deep.

Repeat Step 3

Step 5. dip your bleeding hand into the slimey, gritty, gunk bucket and then into the sand/metal shavings mixture, pack the open wounds deeply then repeat the process on your other hand.

Repeat Step 3.

Step 6. consume several frosty beverages and try and convince friends to come help you, regale them with your tales of the mornings work (they will come over...afterall who could resist witnessing a performance like that?)

Step 7. wrap your bleeding, shredded, throbbing hands in duct tape (to try in vain to protect them from future hammer strikes), wrap the chisels and punches in ductape (to try, in vain, to make them easier to grasp in your throbbing, greasy, grimy gritty, bleeding hands)...while you are at it, wrap the handles of the hammers as well.

Step 8. With the grinder, attack the heads of the rivets, either in the criss cross fashion or just outright grinding them down to frame level, now this is important, make sure you make at least one pass across the tops of yoru knuckles with the grinding wheel....

Repeat step 3 and maybe step 6

Step 9. Using the previously modified chisels and punches start whcking the tar out of the body of the rivet. Don't be bashful here, bang the tar out of it, make so much noise that you won't be able to hear it when your buddies finally show up and scare the tar out of you thus causing you to once more smash the tarnation out of your already bleady and throbbing hand.

Repeat Steps 3 and 6..............................


Enjoy
Bobby