Kinked_Chrome Posted February 3, 2002 Share Posted February 3, 2002 The Structral piece that the front pass. strut tower bolts to has a fair amount of rust on it. It is connected to the body with either tack welds, or rivets, i can't tell. Can i simply drill those out, remove it, then cut off/fix rust, then rivet them back into place? The part that makes this complicated is that there is some rust that overlaps onto it from the engine compartment that also needs to be fixed. Thanks Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denny411 Posted February 4, 2002 Share Posted February 4, 2002 I`m not sure exactly where you`re talking about, but I`m positive that anything that has to do with securing the strut tower should not be riveted. most likely what you`re seeing are spot welds,most auto body supply stores will carry spot weld cutters that you`ll use to drill out the spot welds.then use a wire welder (for best results) to reattach your repair panels.I hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted February 4, 2002 Share Posted February 4, 2002 If its just a few spot welds (not sure exactly which ones your talking about either) a simple center punch followed by drilling through with a small bit and then followed with a bigger bit with a size slightly larger than the spot weld drilled partially through will separate a spot weld. Due to the high temp. of fushion though, the spot weld will often be very hard on drill bits, but if its just a few its doable... To put them back together, you plug weld it making sure you get good penetration in the middle and slowly welding around the edge of the hole to fuse it all together. You need to be careful to get penetration though, as it'll seem like a solid bond and come apart if its not well fused. As mentioned spot weld cutters are available and cheap, but if you want to do it in a pinch the above worked for me for a good number of years. Regards, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted February 4, 2002 Share Posted February 4, 2002 Lone's advice is good, I would add one thing that helped me in finally busting loose the "drilled" spot welds. I have one of those old style long square shaft screw drivers that came with wooden handles. This thing is better and stronger than about any chisel since the end can be sharpend slightly to get between the two layers of sheet metal to pop the spot weld apart. If the spot weld is real stubborn the screw driver blade will cut its way thru quite easily without damage. This is the way I took off inner fenders on Datsun 620 pick-ups and I still have the screw driver "chisel" that seems indestructible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kinked_Chrome Posted February 4, 2002 Author Share Posted February 4, 2002 thanks for the help guys, i just wanted to make sure i could get things back together before i start drilling through things. I'll try to post some pics to show you exactly what i'm talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest V8wannabe Posted February 5, 2002 Share Posted February 5, 2002 Keep in mind you don't want to effect the caster/camber of the wheel. Take some measurements before you start and keep them handy when your reattaching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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