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I want to remove my SS sill covers but I'd like to know how I should go about removing the pop rivets. I recently removed a set of bonnet pad retaining brackets and chewed through 3 drill bits, I assume I'm doing something wrong, any tips?
I want to remove my SS sill covers but I'd like to know how I should go about removing the pop rivets. I recently removed a set of bonnet pad retaining brackets and chewed through 3 drill bits, I assume I'm doing something wrong, any tips?
Ian
Hiya, as long as the drill bit matches the size of the rivet there should be no probs - and what's a few drill bits between friends ? Perhaps going slower or more lightlymight help. Martin.
think the trick to this is slow drilling with a drill just big enough to cut off one side of the rivet, and at the same time to make sure that the rivet doesn't turn - the way to do this (if you can get round the otherside is to jamb something suitable into the centre of the rivet - a centre punch - and hang onto it while you drill..............
also don't be timid - hesitation is the worst thing...............
They should only take a couple of seconds to remove.
Drill the head off the rivet (Use a drill bit slightly larger than the hole the rivet fitted in)The head of the rivet will spin and probably stick to the bit when you have drilled enough,then tap the rivet out with a punch,don't try to drill it right through.
HI Ian,before you drill anything get a rivet and tap the pin into the rivet to remove the pip that breaks off and is left behind, then drill out without doing damage to your drill,hope this helps.Colin h.
Sound advice from all. to add get a set of good quality of hss bits or even cobalt. drill slowly and the rivet head will rise up the bit . Remember you can enlarge a small hole if you enter the cill cavity. It's easy with good sharp drills.Regards Tony .
Hi, folks: I have a big variation on this theme: non-standard rivets. Does my fix (below) look suitably idiot-proof? It’s a lifetime since I drilled out a single pop rivet, and now I have nine to get out!
Background: Rainwater gets past the front seal on both hard- and soft-top. I will follow Vmad’s advice in another thread (thanks a lot) and check for any gaps under the seal retaining channels. But the enduring snag is that my last restorer lost the original screws and quietly re-fitted the windscreen header capping (811776) with pop rivets.
I now realise that these wretched pop rivets
distort the capping’s profile by pulling it down too much in places;
stop me easily removing the capping in order to renew the lockplates; and
when drilled out, might leave debris rattling around inside the windscreen frame.
Fix?
Trap bits of rivets falling inside by squirting a large dollop of grease through the lockplate holes into the windscreen frame.
Stop rivet heads spinning when drilled by gluing them (e.g. with some form of Loctite?).
Drill the heads off the nine pop rivets without damaging either the (expensive!) capping or the thread in any screw holes by:
setting the electric hand drill at its lowest speed
using a sharp drill bit that matches (?) the diameter of the rivet heads;
Remove capping and dissolve/scrape off adhesive residues;
Remove lockplates, clean out grease and debris from windscreen frame, check/renew/re-fit lockplates.
Straighten capping, check/level windscreen frame and re-fit with screws 518368;
Hi, folks: I have a big variation on this theme: non-standard rivets. Does my fix (below) look suitably idiot-proof? It’s a lifetime since I drilled out a single pop rivet, and now I have nine to get out!
Background: Rainwater gets past the front seal on both hard- and soft-top. I will follow Vmad’s advice in another thread (thanks a lot) and check for any gaps under the seal retaining channels. But the enduring snag is that my last restorer lost the original screws and quietly re-fitted the windscreen header capping (811776) with pop rivets.
I now realise that these wretched pop rivets
distort the capping’s profile by pulling it down too much in places;
stop me easily removing the capping in order to renew the lockplates; and
when drilled out, might leave debris rattling around inside the windscreen frame.
Fix?
Trap bits of rivets falling inside by squirting a large dollop of grease through the lockplate holes into the windscreen frame.
Stop rivet heads spinning when drilled by gluing them (e.g. with some form of Loctite?).
Drill the heads off the nine pop rivets without damaging either the (expensive!) capping or the thread in any screw holes by:
setting the electric hand drill at its lowest speed
using a sharp drill bit that matches (?) the diameter of the rivet heads;
Remove capping and dissolve/scrape off adhesive residues;
Remove lockplates, clean out grease and debris from windscreen frame, check/renew/re-fit lockplates.
Straighten capping, check/level windscreen frame and re-fit with screws 518368;
Test.
Too optimistic?
Cheers
Roger
hi Roger I fitted my capping a few weeks ago . lucky for me I welded up every hole so I could drill new ones to take the stainless self taper . that section is actually tough so I used a good strong steel self taper to tap the thread then finished with my stainless ones as they seem softer. seeing as you don't want to have big screws how about plugging the holes with a liquid metal and starting afresh with nice holes the right size . I'm worried your rivet holes will be a tad to big . personally if you have a few rivet ends in your section they won't do much harm .
my section is filled with cavity grease too .
Edd
Removing old rivets is a multi-faceted task. I find that each rivet has its own chracteristic and requires a different tactic. First I try drilling; then a small pin punch, sometimes a chisel, or combinations of all those, but sometimes just sheer perseverance!
hi Roger I fitted my capping a few weeks ago . lucky for me I welded up every hole so I could drill new ones to take the stainless self taper . that section is actually tough so I used a good strong steel self taper to tap the thread then finished with my stainless ones as they seem softer. seeing as you don't want to have big screws how about plugging the holes with a liquid metal and starting afresh with nice holes the right size . I'm worried your rivet holes will be a tad to big . personally if you have a few rivet ends in your section they won't do much harm .
my section is filled with cavity grease too .
Edd
thats funny, as i did the same thing welded up the holes and then re-drill them ,great minds think alike
When I re-fitted the header rail and the tread plates, I enlarged the holes to take S/S thread inserts (painting the freshly cut holes first!). I then used S/S domed socket head screws. This gives a good 'clean' finish and should allow the screws to come out again easily!
I like the idea of punching the steel pin through the pop rivet before drilling them out. I've never had a problem drilling out pop rivets but the remains of the pin can sometimes get in the way. I tend to use the correct size drill for the pop rivet as it can be all too easy to go right through and it's not easy making a big hole smaller!
Cheers,
Mike.
Mine since 1987. Finished a 20+ year rebuild in 2012. One of many Triumphs and a 1949 LandRover!
Thanks, guys. No-one has (yet) said it's a daft idea to try to Loctite the rivets to stop them spinning when drilled - but from what you say, Chris, I'll probably be attacking them with everything in the toolbox by the time I'm finished. But I'm hoping punching the pins through will help a lot.
Mike/Dave/Edd - I'm very impressed with your accounts of welding and s/s inserts and all. Sadly 'plastic metal' is probably more at my level. I'd dearly like to use the OE screws, so I'm really hoping to find screw holes that have not been enlarged... Does plastic metal really stand a good chance of making a big screw-hole smaller? I'm sure you're right, Mike; but maybe screwing the header capping down won't need much torque, and plastic metal might just do (?).
Martin.
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