How do I remove this bolt/rivet?

[protryon]

It's part of the tool rack in my new used van. There are about 10 of them, and I cannot figure out how to remove them. I tried prying them, allen wrenches, a flat head screwdriver inside, nothing worked. I'm about ready to whip out my dremel and cut them off -- but that might lead me with stripped bolt stems stuck in my vans frame. What should I do?

 

[DannyB1954]

That looks like a drive pin rivet. There are a couple of methods.
1. If you don't mind small parts falling inside of the item, using a small punch, hammer the center pin all the way through. You can then use a drill to make the center hole larger. If you use a large enough drill the head of the rivet will pop off.

If having small parts falling into the area on the other side of the wall is a problem, then it will be more difficult. You will need to remove material from around the area around the center pin so that you can either pry it out or grab a hold of it and pull it out. Then you will need to pry the rest of the rivet out of the hole.

The way this type of rivet works is a pin is driven in with a hammer. This expands the part of the rivet that is recessed. As long as the pin is in place, you will not be able to un expand it. Once the pin part is removed, (either by pushing it all the way through, or by pulling it back out), the expanded part of the rivet can then have a place to go back into. you can either pry it out, or drill it out.

 

[BradKW]

Also, don't feel bad if you end up resorting to a grinder/cutoff wheel and violence...those things can really suck.

 

[poncho62]

It's a pop rivet....drill it out

 

[gargoyle]

Rivet. Blind rivet or Pop rivet is a common term.  It looks like this.
On the left is an uninstalled rivet, with a long mandrel. The mandrel fits inside a special installation tool known commonly as pop-rivet gun. The "gun" squeezes the mandrel and as it reaches a certain tension it "pops" the mandrel off. Leaving a mushroomed section on both sides of the hole.

Removal involves drilling out the center (mandrel) portion, normally a sharp 1/8" or 3/16" drill bit. The mushroomed sections will then fall free. Your other option is to grind off the mushroomed head. Or a sharp chisel and hammer and peen off the head of the rivet.

Try the drill first. It'll be the lesser off all evils.

Airplanes are held together will millions of rivets.

 

[Queen]

It's a pop rivet....drill it out

Yup.  I've drilled enough to do it in my sleep, it's like magic, something that seems utterly permanent is gone in a heartbeat.

If anyone here rode a motorcycle in the late 70's with a Vetter Fairing on it, I probably pinstriped it and drilled the old inventory plate off and installed the new one (done at year changeover when pinstriping changed).

 

[DannyB1954]

To me, the face of the center pin is too smooth for it to be a pop rivet. The shaft of a pop rivet never breaks flush with the surface.
http://www.tacomascrew.com/Products...xtBQoYxf44VufE4KX7xf6PdpN4_OA_SFeoxoCGBDw_wcB

https://www.southco.com/en-ca/10-38

If you try to drill out the rivet without driving out the pin first, most likely the drill bit will vear off from center and not only not remove the rivet, but it could muck up the hole the rivet was placed into.

 

[highdesertranger]

x2 on what Danny said. highdesertranger

 

[akrvbob]

Let's stay on topic, I deleted the off-topic posts.

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

That is almost certainly a pop rivet. I just drilled out over a thousand of those $%(&#$&$%^#$%^ing things.

Two basic choices.

Cut off wheel on an angle grinder.

Hit the pin with a nail set or similar punch. Once the pin is further in get a metal drill bit that is larger than the diameter of the tube the pin is in. Using the now larger divet as your starting point just drill until the pin falls through and the walls of the cylindar are weak enough to either just fall apart or hit it with a metal cold cut and a hammer. I did 10 of them yesterday with a cut off wheel because I didn't feel like digging up the rest of the tools that I used when i removed all of the ceiling panel from the skoolie. THAT was a drag.

 

[ArtW]

If it's a pop rivet, I used to just pop the heads off with an air hammer with a chisel tip
Of course, most of the ones I did held ball joints in place

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

It looks like a drive rivet (also called a hammer-in blind rivet).  If it is you will need to grind the head down (it has a head like a finish nail) and the drive the body of the pin in to remove the outside flange.  You can also try to drill it out (center punch first) but the center pin will sometimes rotate with the drill bit.

I have never seen a pop rivet break off that cleanly.

 -- Spiff

 

[highdesertranger]

I sure looks like a drive rivet to me,

https://www.amazon.com/Drive-square...&qid=1495164939&sr=8-12&keywords=drive+rivets

you can tell by the smooth center pin. pop rivets don not have a smooth center pin.
highdesertranger

 

[protryon]

I have no idea what kind of rivet they are, but I got them all out. I drilled them out with a 1/4" drill bit then smacked them off with a chisel and small sledgehammer. The first one I tried a 1/8" then a 3/16" in, but they could not detach the head -- I grinded the head off that first one until a chisel did the trick. It did go off center by a mm or so, but that's why I needed a chisel despite the drilling. Thanks for the help guys.