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Tip: Removing bad rivets

Rick6a

Well Known Member
Many builders are reluctant to remove bad rivets. The thinking goes something like this....."I'll do more damage trying to remove the bad rivet so it's just better to leave well enough alone." Reality time: Few aircraft production shops will buy that argument but we are after all, not building an airplane for sale to strangers, but rather we build for our own personal use and education. There is no quality control department to answer to except maybe for the QC department in our heads.

Here is a technique that often...but not always....works.

Often times, particularily with a bad rivet in a dimpled hole, it is NOT necessary to drill the rivet out which as you know tends to enlargen the hole. More often than not, such rivets can be successfully removed by just drilling the head of the rivet off. No damage to the hole so far. Then, with a high quality pair of pliers such as these, you can then grip the shop head of the bad rivet and pull the rest of the rivet remains free of the hole. It doesn't work all the time, but often enough that it should be considered when the alternative is to leave a bad rivet in place.
fueltanks26315rm0.jpg
 
Bob Avery showed me how to drill just barely into the head and then using a pin punch or the inverted drill bit, 'snapping' the head off the rivet. The shank and shop head pop right out the backside. Worked great on every one I tried.
 
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