I drilled mine out with a standard metal drill. The first problem you may
have it that the whole rivet may want to spin when you try and drill it out.
You should be able to address this by carefully inserting a flat screwdriver
between the plastic panel and the frame of the car and gently prying to
create just enough friction that the rivet stops spinning. Drill only deep
enough to allow the rivet's flange to fall off.
The second problem you may have is the plastic is brittle and may crack or
break around the rivet holes. I used new aluminum rivets with large flanges
to distribute the pressure over more of the panel surface and prevent more
cracking.
Stephen I. Early
Technology Sector
MBNA America
800.441.7048 x74788
stephen.early@mbna.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Schroeder [mailto:gschroeder@comcast.net]
Sent: Monday, April 04, 2005 3:07 PM
To: bricklin@autox.team.net
Subject: Pop Rivet Removal
What is the best method for the pop rivet removal on the black ground affect
panels? I want to remove these to do some rust proofing and check the brake
lines, but I do not want to cause any damage to the panel. There are already
a
couple of cracks around some of the rivets. My thinking is to drill these
out, if that is the case what is the recommended drill bit for these? If
anyone has a passenger side panel in good condition I may be interested in
purchasing that. There are a couple of chips out on mine near the wheel. I
may try to do a repair in this area. I am not sure how involved it will be.
I am hoping to complete the install of the second leaf spring on the
passenger
side this weekend. So the rear should be close to being finished. Shock
cross
member, shocks and leaf springs. Not much left there, but my wallet is
about
$500 lighter. My next step will be to work on the middle of the car for
rust
prevention.
Greg 0036
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