You've got, what, a million rivets to replace? More? The Smoke Wrench and Gorilla method is going to use up a lot of oxygen, and suffer a lot of injuries, and when the gorillas start getting tired, damage some bridge parts.
You need to develop a mass production technique.
WRT getting the shanks out, go back to the site linke by Kapitan, and take special note of the references to 'coring'. That's why I suggested drilling; you've got a better chance of locating the center of the shank, and drilling out most of the shank without damage to the connected members, while the head is still on the rivet.
I suggest a crew as follows:
- Specialist 1, locating the center of the rivet heads, e.g. using a drill bushing with a female conical locator on a spot drill bit, driven by a cordless hand drill.
- Specialist 2, placing a lightweight hydraulically driven magnetically attached drill press, and drilling out the majority of the shank and much of the head. He might be instructed to drill deep enough to get into the upset end, but not through it, so he leaves a blind hole in a severely weakened shank.
- Specialist 3, using a pneumatic hammer and chisel to remove the periphery of the head.
- Specialist 4, using a pneumatic hammer with a drift point smaller than the blind hole left by S.2, to drive the shank out.
- Specialist 3a, to catch the rivet heads.
- Specialist 4a, to catch the rivet shanks.
- Specialist 5, to refuel the generator and the compressor, and keep all the hoses and wires untangled and out of harms way.
Plus, of course, more people to ream the holes, place the bolts, spin the nuts down, and torque the nuts.
Mike Halloran
NOT speaking for
DeAngelo Marine Exhaust Inc.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA
