Club 80-90 Forums

Anyone got suggestions for a simple and easy way to remove the pop rivets from my Devon Pop top?

drill them out

it's usual to drill pop rivets out with a drill the same as the core size if you can get access from the head, once the head is off they can often be pushed out.

So go for the head not take em from the rear. Got it. Thanks. Theres hundreds of the buggers to do.

I recently drilled out about a million rivets to get my Viking pop top canvas off. If you're planning to re-use the item that's riveted down (in my case it was a plastic strip that sandwiched the canvas to the van roof), then to avoid opening up the hole just go VERY slowly until the head of the rivet separates. You can even use a slightly smaller drill bit if you like - it just has to break the join between the rivet head and the rest of the rivet.

Once you've removed all the rivet heads and the item that's riveted down, you'll be left with the hollow rivet shafts sitting proud. They'll probably just spin round if you try to drill them out. I used an old flat-bladed screwdriver as a chisel to slice them off flush, then a centre punch to push the rest through the hole. In your case, if you can get to the back of the rivet, a pair of pliers might be enough to pull them out once the heads are off.

Thanks, all.

Rivet removal went well but the screws in the roof not so good the plastic strip will need to be renewed as it cracked in a few places, having trouble gripping the screw heads to turn them, any ideas any one there rusted and rounded off.

Small pair of mole grips

If the screws are countersunk then perhaps you can drill them out too unless they're self tappers in which case they'll be harder than other screws and it'll maybe not go that easy. If the screws are roundheads you can cut a 'slot' in the head with a junior hacksaw and use a flat headed screwdriver on them.

Will give all them a go, cheers