bolt kit madness

[scirocco-al at insight.rr.com (scirocco-al)]

I usually use a drill press and a machine vice at work to get them out.
It's much easier that way!

As far as pressing the new bolts in, I just oiled mine up and used a hemmer
on them until I was sure they were seated correctly.  Not the most precise
method but I don't think a press is really called for.

Alan
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "T. Reed" <treed2@u.washington.edu>
To: <scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2003 6:12 AM
Subject: bolt kit madness


> Okay, so I got my ring gear and differential removed from the tranny as a
> unit, and I drilled and punched out the eight rivets holding the two parts
> together. What a pain in the ass! It took me 5.5 hours to get all eight
> out. In the process I managed to munge up the surface of the ring gear a
> bit around one or two of the bolt holes. I hope that doesn't cause
> problems (!)
>
> I'm waiting for my bolt kit from peter@thescirocco, it should be here
> tomorrow (friday). Peter says the kit HAS to be pressed in; which is fine
> with me.. but since I don't have a press, does anyone have a homebrew
> solution to this that has worked for a bolt kit before?
>
> Since this is fresh in my mind, the process that worked for me to remove
> the rivets is as follows:
>
> First and foremost, build yourself a stand. You need 2 ~10" long 4x4s
> and 2 ~10" long 2x4s. Set the 4x4s side by side with a gap between them
> and then set the 2x4s flat on top of the 4x4s, also side by side with a
> gap, but the opposite orientation. Now set the ring gear/diff assembly
> (with the diff facing down) in the gap between the four boards. Scoot
> them closer together so they hug the differential tightly (you'll need to
> reposition it so that the two large rivet heads are in the "channel"
> between the 2x4s). Get four long wood screws and screw the thing together.
> Now you can set your stand on the drill press to do any drilling work,
> and it holds the ring gear/diff solidly so you can clamp it to your drill
> press if need be. It also makes punching the rivets through with a hammer
> a little easier (although it only works for 1/2" or so until the rivet
> hits the wood below, unless it is one of the large headed rivets that
> has the empty "channel" below it)
>
> You'll probably want to built a second stand that's not as tight so you
> can spin the gear around to pound out more than just the two large headed
> rivets. I was going to, but I didn't think it would take so many hours,
> and I was out of wood.
>
> To remove rivets:
>
> 1) mark the center of the rivet head on the ring gear side with a punch
> 2) use a center drill (tiny, cheap drill bit) to enlarge the hole made by
>    the punch
> 3) use a 1/4" drill bit to drill half way (or thereabouts) through the
>    rivet
> 4) use a larger drill bit (15/32? it's in the bentley..) to drill the
>    rivet head off (on the ring gear side). Be careful to get it as well
>    centered as possible
> 5) stop before you drill in to the ring gear
> 6) DON'T remove the burrs, carefully chisel them inward to expose the
>    edge of the drilled hole in the ring gear. Spray some penetrating oil
>    or WD-40 down the crack between the rivet and the hole's edge to loosen
>    things up.
> 7) get a punch and start pounding. Be aware that if you have a tapered
>    punch and it just keeps going deeper without pushing the rivet, you are
>    just making things harder for yourself. Find something that has a fat
>    enough head to catch the rivet before the edges of the hole.
> 8) keep hammering; this is not easy.
> 9) hammer some more. You should be using a 4 lb hand sledge by now.
> 10) get frustrated and start using a full sledge hammer. Use care not to
>     hit the ring gear and chip teeth, or hit your toes with the sledge.
>     Don't hit the final drive bearings either.
> 11) if you're not having success, you can run halfway through the rivet
>     again with a slightly larger drill bit to relieve more pressure.
>     Resist the urge to drill all the way through- it will NOT make things
>     easier (I didn't figure this out nearly soon enough)
> 12) if you want to try punching out the opposite direction, you can drill
>     with a 1/4" or so bit in to the diff side rivet head and then chisel
>     it sideways and it will break off (usually quite cleanly). Then you
>     can pound it through, out the ring gear side.
> 13) if you can get the rivet to spin, you can get it to come out. So when
>     things get desperate, try forcing a cheap, very dull drill bit in to
>     the hole and see if it will jam and break the rivet free. This is
>     sorta along the lines of an easy-out. It worked for me for the two
>     large headed rivets (which were both a HUGE pain; worse than the
>     normal ones for some reason)
> 14) when you finally get a rivet out, save the mangled pieces to make a
>     necklace to "wow" your friends.
> 15) repeat 7 times, or until you give up
>
> Oh yeah, and make sure you protect the differential and the final drive
> bearings REAL GOOD. Plastic baggies alone don't cut it! (as I found out)
> Wrap those bastards in packing tape three times to make -sure- they don't
> rip. And avoid using compressed air to blast the metal chips. Just flip,
> tap and brush. It seems compressed air forces the chips up inside the
> plastic baggies you so carefully tightly taped over the pieces you're
> trying to protect.
>
> I'm still cleaning metal shavings that got inside my differential (I can't
> believe the one-piece thrust bearing is PLASTIC!!) and I picked a bunch
> out of my final drive bearings. I feel bad putting those bearings back in
> since I'm sure I missed some of the shavings but I can't really justify
> putting new ones on since it seems like a lot more work. I'm already in
> neck deep as is.
>
> Oh yeah... I hate rivets!!! Pop rivets are alright but these things SUCK!
>
> In other news, I scored some circlip pliers for $9.99 yesterday. I'm sure
> Cheapass Ron is soo impressed! I -almost- bought the NAPA ones for 18
> bucks but I decided to venture over to a local chain called B&B auto
> parts and they sell a cheap line of tools called PG Performance.. they
> happened to have one for $13 and it was on sale for $9.99. So yeah, I
> rule.
>
> So do the circlip pliers, as it turns out. Anyone who is considering doing
> a job that involves removing or installing circlips; take Ron's advice
> seriously. Just buy the damn pliers!! Snap ring pliers are garbage; stay
> away! I still hate circlips, but the circlip pliers make them damned easy
> to get in and out compared to the "three screwdrivers and two hands"
> method that I've used a total of eight times (4 removals and 4 installs)
> changing drive flange seals. Every time it takes me like 40 minutes to get
> the circlip on or off, and I almost have a freakin' aneurism. Get the
> pliers. I repeat, get the pliers!! After half an hour with the
> screwdrivers you'll be crying for mercy "I'll pay anything! Anything!!"
>
> Anyway, I'm gonna go back out to the shop, clean up the diff and bearings
> some more and then go to bed.
>
> -Toby
>
>
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