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recommend an air hammer and rivet cutting bits

metalneverdies

metalneverdies

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I am going to have ~16 rivets to remove from my frame. (Rear shackle hanger and quad shock setup)

Can you guys recommend an affordable air hammer and the bits to cut and remove the rivets?

I will be using a 3hp (30gal?) Compressor to power the tool.
 
i've actually been shopping a new one.. my old snappie 2050 finally gave up the ghost after almost 3 decades.. ya can't touch snappies big 3050.. without a doubt the snottiest hammer on the market.. but it's also $320.. :doah: but they can be had used on eghey for $100 or so...


for frame rivets, pure power, ya want the longest barrel one ya can get whether Mac, IR, CP, etc... the shorter barrel ones are med duty, like my 2050 was..
 
oh, and i don't even use a hammer.. i grind the heads off and just punch em thru with a hammer and punch... tho the air hammer punch makes that even quicker if i can be bothered to bring it out..
 
Grinding them off would potentially cause lots of sparks near fuel lines and the tank though. Am I being over paranoid?
 
somewhat, I suppose... :whistle:


wet rags, cardboard, plywood, zombie guts all work well to insulate sparks.. direct them away from those areas with the grinder, shoot em down to the ground whenever ya can...... extinguisher handy, life insurance current, etc...
 
i been runnin blue point short throw unit for over 10 years and not a simple part replaced yet. all tho it does loosen up at the barrrel to body a bit .

and if fuel system area dry and cap on tight damp it with water and grind / cut away .

i prefer cutting tourch and air hammer. melt head off each one and hammer out rest of rivit when hot and on to next one till done. thay come right out :D

that method has worked for me for years. wouldnt wana grind or air hammer them off after doing it this way .
 
Not that it should be mentioned in the same thread as a Snap On, but my "HD" Harbor Freight air hammer worked well enough to remove about 40 rivets from my '76. I cut an X in the head with a thin cutoff wheel, then switched to one of the supplied chisels to cut each quarter away from the center. Then I switched to the punch and hammered them out.

I think I only paid like $10 or $15 for it and it came with 5 punches/chisels :dunno: I'm all for a nice one now that I have the compressor for it, but at the time it was hard to justify a good air tool when I only had a $100 compressor.
 
Cut off every rivet on a frame, tried everything but an air hammer or air chisel.

Torch would probably be pretty quick too.

Best I found was simply an aggressive 4" grinding wheel (not cutoff), dished, so that you can get it in tighter areas.

For the really tight areas I used a cutoff wheel. Then punch the remaining portion out.

Unless you have an early tank that vents through the cap and/or sender, you shouldn't have any gasoline vapor in the area anyways.

I used to be really paranoid about this stuff, but now I'm just careful. Gas tank won't explode if its sealed well and has fuel in it....they run electric pumps in them. :) This is a benefit from not half-a$$ing the fuel system. Just protect any rubber lines that may be present.

Oh, and see if you can find the video on youtube, there are people who "purge" fuel tanks by igniting them!
 
dyeager535 said:
Cut off every rivet on a frame, tried everything but an air hammer or air chisel.

Torch would probably be pretty quick too.

Best I found was simply an aggressive 4" grinding wheel (not cutoff), dished, so that you can get it in tighter areas.

For the really tight areas I used a cutoff wheel. Then punch the remaining portion out.

Unless you have an early tank that vents through the cap and/or sender, you shouldn't have any gasoline vapor in the area anyways.

I used to be really paranoid about this stuff, but now I'm just careful. Gas tank won't explode if its sealed well and has fuel in it....they run electric pumps in them. :) This is a benefit from not half-a$$ing the fuel system. Just protect any rubber lines that may be present.

Oh, and see if you can find the video on youtube, there are people who "purge" fuel tanks by igniting them!
Click to expand...

I assume an 87 isnt the old style and wont have fumes then?
 
I got a harbor fright HD hammer as well when I did my shackle flip. It worked it took it wasn't the fastest things I X'ed the heads with a cutoff wheel. I did have to grind a point back on the chisel though. my 33 gal 1.5 craftsman compressor had a hard time running it though with 3 hp you should be fine
 
For the shackle flip you probably be ok grinding, but I took a towel soaked in water, wrung it out, then stuffed between the frame and body, shielding the tank from sparks. I didn't want to take any chances...
 
I have an old Rodac air chisel and it seels like a decent gut but it won't touch a frame rivet. It will gouge it but can never cut clean thru. And thats with a 80gal 7.5 hp compressor. And honestly I don't like an air chisel due to the fact that it is very easy to gouge the frame itself. I prefer to use a cut off radiac disc and cut and "X" into the rivet head, and I cut down just shy of hitting the frame.

Then I use the air chisel and it pops off the four smaller pieces easily, and it's much more controllable to keep it from gouging the frame. Then I stake the center of the rivet shank and drill a 1/8 hole through the rivet the depth of the frame material, then I drill a 1/4 hole to same depth. That relieves the pressure on the rivet from when it was crimped and it will punch out much more easy then trying to punch it out without drilling it down the center.

I hate seeing grinding gouges in a frame where guys have ground the rivet off or cut it like I explained with a cut off and cut into the frame material. Take a bit more time and do a clean job if your going to go to the trouble of doing it to begin with. Thats a big time pet peave of mine. I can't stand hack work.
 
metalneverdies said:
I assume an 87 isnt the old style and wont have fumes then?
Click to expand...

If the fuel system hasn't been tampered with, no. I put mine together so I know any tampering was done only by me. :whistle: Everything in life is a risk, you have to determine which you are willing to take. On the K5 you should be able to see everything fairly well around/on top of the tank, so you can inspec the area first.

I don't disagree with shielding from sparks if you can. Even a board will work if you can wedge it up in there. Not ideal, but as long as the grinder isn't an inch or two from it, it's not going to catch fire. Just to keep the majority of sparks away. I'd be more concerned with melting hose or wiring than accidentally igniting the tank.
 
My .02

I have a Matco MT1815 and have used it for quite a few rivets in the short time that I have owned it. I have done about 50 or so on 3 trucks so far and found that I can take the rivet head off without cutting, heating or drilling. It does go faster if I make one cut through the head with a cut-off wheel. I honestly shot one rivet head across the garage! :woot: I then switch to a pointed punch and drive the rivet out. I had a few stubborn ones on my '90 Jimmy but still no drilling. I tested it at my work on ready-mix concrete trucks and it is lots stronger than the Cornwell one there. ( quite a few of our trucks end up with 3"-5" of concrete in the frames ) I know there are guys that have and will call bull**** on this, but it has worked very well for me. I have only owned it 8 months, though.
 
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