47-55.1 Battery tray removal

[TX3100Guy]

Any advice on how to remove the four steel rivets that seem to have been used to mount the factory battery tray on the underside of a 1953 1/2 ton?

Mine is a bit corroded from battery spluge and won't fit the 12v battery I want to use. I want to remove this one before the drop down one I ordered arrives.

Thanks in advance.

Bob

[JDarby]

I have a DeWalt Heavy Duty Small Angle Paddle Grinder That makes short work when it comes to cutting threw stuff like that.

It has worked well for me!

[dsraven]

if you have room, drill through the rivet to weaken it, then grind the head off the rivet, or use an air hammer to cut the head off, then use a punch on the air hammer to drive the rivet out.
if you have a cutting torch cut the head off the rivet, then spike a hole into the rivet with the torch, this is gonna cause some blow back so be ready, then drive it out with the air hammer while stll red hot. you may leave some marks on the old box but it's toast anyway by the sounds of it. an air hammer works well but wear ear protection
not knowing what tools you have on hand, and assuming you have just basic hand tools, I would say center punch the middle of the head of the rivet, drill into it with a small diameter drill, then a larger drill and keep doing this drill size increase until the drill bit takes the head off the rivet. stop there before the drill actually starts drilling the frame material. then drill through the rivet with a size smaller then the hole in the frame, then punch out the shell of the rivet that is left in the hole.

[mr48chev]

Use what you have out of dsraven's suggestion file.

We all have different tools at our disposal and can use what we have to get the needed results but some ways are easier than others. Meaning decide what you have to work with as far as tools that you can remove rivets with and get after it.

I did this a few years ago when I removed the old spring mounts off my frame to send to a member. A rivet is a rivet in a Chevy frame some are just bigger than others.
https://photobucket.com/u/mr48chev/a...5-ecb190065164

For me it was simpler to center punch the head of the rivet and drill down so that the drill bit ended with the tapered hole pretty close to flush with the piece I was taking off and then clean it up with the grinder. Then take a cold chisel and pop the part off the rivet.

The next step after that is to grind the rivet flush with the frame and knock it out with a punch if you plan to reuse the hole.

The shanks on any and all rivets that were installed correctly are expanded to be tight in the hole so they aren't usually going to come out without a fight.

NOTE FROM PAST EXPERIENCE I've been there done that with making the battery box larger to fit a larger 12Volt battery. It is beyond a pain in the keester to get a battery larger than the original size down that hole in the floor and into a box. I had to tilt my battery on end and pretty well stick it down and turn it to get it in there and getting it out is harder yet. I highly suggest finding a suitable 12V that fits in the original size battery box.

A lot of guys rave about the drop out the bottom battery boxes that street rod suppliers sell but I can guarantee not one of those guys has ever had to lay on the ground in a parking lot to change a battery because their battery gave out on a road trip. It's an easy job if you have a hoist, it's easy if you have a floor jack and jack stands but not easy if you don't have shop facilities to work with.

[vintovka]

Might add mine was rusted badly so i removed it and added a longer tray capable of supporting 2 larger batteries. Base was made of 2x3 angle 24" long suspended from frame with 1/4 steel straps and bolts. Base was also steel welded to angles. Batteries (optima yellows) can be put in and removed thru original hole or underneath.

[JayB22]

Has anyone ever turned one of these into a in floor cooler like what the dodge trucks have in their back seats? I was debating on doing this and just mounting the battery under the hood against the firewall.

[TX3100Guy]

I don't have a flaming wrench (torch), so I will start with my angle grinder (not Dewalt, but I'm jealous and may use this as an excuse to acquire something better than my Harbor Freight unit, if it doesn't work).

If the angle grinder is no bueno, then I may try drilling them out. Don't have an air hammer either, but may use this as excuse to get one of those too, if the angle grinder takes too much effort.

More to come when I can get around to this task.

[vintovka]

Originally Posted by JayB22

Has anyone ever turned one of these into a in floor cooler like what the dodge trucks have in their back seats? I was debating on doing this and just mounting the battery under the hood against the firewall.

My arms are to short reach for a beer from drivers side

[mick53]

Originally Posted by JayB22

Has anyone ever turned one of these into a in floor cooler like what the dodge trucks have in their back seats? I was debating on doing this and just mounting the battery under the hood against the firewall.

That was bound to happen. Last fall I removed all the rivets in my donor 53 3100 frame and will have to remove most of them on my truck frame. I have all the tools and tried many methods looking for the magic bullet. I oxy torched. I plasma torched. I drilled. I cross cut. I ground. I even mag drilled the heads. I was saving the pieces so the torching was a little too aggressive for me. I the end drilling the head and popping it off with an air hammer worked best. Then easily ground smooth and beat it out. Cussing helps a lot.

[mr48chev]

I ran out and was going to take a look at my frame to see if you could reach the rivet heads with a grinder and I had already removed and tossed what was left of the battery tray. If you are working with a bare frame I think you can reach the rivets from the inside and it may be easier to grind them flush on the inside of the frame and then take a chisel and knock the battery tray off the frame. The smashed end usually isn't all that big.

[LEEVON]

I always cut an "x" in the head with a cut-off wheel, knock the four small pieces off with a chisel bit on an air hammer then poke the rivet through with the pointy bit.

[mr48chev]

OK, Tx3100Guy, inquiring minds are waiting impatiently for you to tell us how you took it off.

We want all the details.

[TX3100Guy]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

OK, Tx3100Guy, inquiring minds are waiting impatiently for you to tell us how you took it off.

We want all the details.

I've been waylaid with other projects on the 53, but did try to use the angle grinder on a rivet, but so far they are holding firm. More to come....

EDIT: I didn't use an angle grinder, I used a 3 inch cut-off wheel

[mr48chev]

They don't give up without a fight.

[TX3100Guy]

For those of you that have been breathlessly waiting to hear about the saga of the brake bracket rivets, the story now has a conclusion.

A few days ago I attempted to use a Dremel to cut the head of the rivet off, then to make an X across the head to break them off with a chisel. The first comment would be that the Dremel was like using a thumb tack hammer to drive a railroad spike, it was useless. That caused me to break out my 3 inch cut-off wheel tool, but it too was semi-useless since the device was too long and the wheel protrudes out the front of it and I wan't able to get any angle on the rivets.

As my Dad used to say, I needed to let the project marinate for a while and reconsider my plan of attack. Tonight was the night, I broke out my 4 1/2 inch angle grinder and used a 40 grit flap disk to grind the heads off (on the bracket side) until I could see the round outline of the rivet showing through the bracket itself. Then I got out a center punch and my "Thor" hammer ( 2 1/2 pounds) and whacked at it until each of the four rivet backs went flying across the shop floor. Total time spent with the flap disk and center punch 10-15 minutes per rivet, maybe a bit less.

Now tomorrow I will clean off the frame where the old brackets were, give it a quick rattle can spray to clean up the area and cover any bare metal, then find four bolt that fit the rivet holes to mount the new drop down battery tray bracket........

[mr48chev]

I've had my favorite 2-1/2 lb Machinist hammer for over 5 years. I've got several hammers that size but it stays the favorite.

[mick53]

Good job! I've taken over a hundred of these out and the best method is whatever works.