Shawn if you grind the head flat on one side, you dont have to grind it down to the frame. then use a 1/4" drill bit and dill most of the way through the rivet. You can use a pin punch in your air hammer and it will drive out. The reason they are so hard to get out is they are compressed during installation and they are actually wedged into the holes on all the parts. By drilling it out part way you will relieve the pressure and driving it from inside the rivet will make sure you are not wedging it further when driving it.

Worked for a GMC Truck dealer lon ago. We'd just cut and shorten the frame rails, and have a drive shaft made up to fit !

these are fantastic trucks. 8.1 has great power. not terrible on fuel. the Allison trans keeps it in the right rpm range for hp and torque. i would build my bed right on top of that bent steel uhaul uses for their low box floor. the rivets in the gm frames get swelled and wedge in between each layer. i torch off whichever side is easiest to get to. then heat up the center of the rivet. use the torch to blow a hole through the center of the rivet. between the heat and the hole, it helps to give the bulge a little relief. then the air hammer takes them out easier. i take the extra steel that uhaul added off. clean between the two. then swap them side to side for an overlay frame. gives extra strength for heavy and concentrated loads. i use a bottle jack with a short section of pipe to spread the frame a little. helps to get those crossmembers moving. if you get small shavings in the collar of the mag drill, or if you push the drill too hard into the material, the anullar cutter can get stuck. funny....your cutting off frame and im looking for frame to stretch one of mine.

Shawn. For removing the rivots you can grind off one side and then use a torch to heat just the rivet to red hot and then with the air chisel and a flat end (not pointed) it will blow the rivot right out.

This kind of content reminds me of the DIY days on the farm growing up. We did so much of this kind of stuff in the 80s and 90s. But it saved money and we built some fun machinery and other things that worked well.

You are a braver man than I being in shorts with a plasmer cutter that near!

I always enjoy these videos even though this wouldn't be something I would ever do. Keep up with the great upload Shawn!

Shawn just gets it done!

If you put a pizza oven on the back it might save you a few bucks at lunch time! 🤣

That trick with the Plasma cutter just heating the rivets then air hammer them out, just goes to show, you learn something New Everyday - thanks.

You need a sledge hammer and a flat tipped punch, that air hammer just taps away at anything you use it on, you need hard sharp blows with the hammer (easy with the that’s what she said jokes) to push those through, another set of hands or a short sledgehammer possibly do it yourself, I’m sure you’ve done the job already and gotten thousand comments but only way to see if this works is to do it, ain’t nothing to it but to do it All The Best Fabrizio

Use a punch with your air hammer that is flat, the pointy one will expand the diameter of the bolt and tighten it about the hole... A plasma torch that can go through a one inch long bolt is not made for the common man, overall though a plasma torch works best after it has made a hole to 'expel' the metal about, not really meant for spots of metal like a bolt. I like the the flat air chisel that has a cutting divet in it, though Im only cutting 14g sheet metal with spot welds... Making the surrounding metal around the rivot red hot makes it bigger which should let the rivots just drop out (this essentially was what you were doing when you plasma torched the metal before hammering) . I really do enjoy the tenacity you showcase to get a job done.

Ive removed hundreds of rivets, my go to method is heat the head of the rivet on both sides, with oxygen/acetylene torch, then immediately cut the heads off with air hammer, then pry the different riveted layers apart with the air hammer, if its a big flange I would jam it full of wedges to separate it all apart, you will usually end up with the stud of the rivet stuck in one layer eventually, this time cut it with the torch flat against the metal and push it through with the air hammer... loud fast and effective!

I'm loving this video already ❤

The pointed tip on your air hammer was making the rivet expand in the hole a round punch would have not expanded the rivet. Your doing a great job. Working through a tough task.

My vote is to make it into a hook truck. Then you can put whatever youd like on the back, flat bed, dump bed, tree transplant, water tank, utility. Great vid

This has been done before, cut the rear section in front of the axle assembly to the length you want and weld the two section together with major support plates, The whole rear section with shortened drive shaft, brake lines and wiring are just moves forward without any other major rework. It's so much easier this way and the way most manufactures would make this modification....

While working on aircraft, we were instructed to use your second finger on the trigger, your pointer finger helps to steady and guide the tool, especially if variable drive .just my opinion, great job and awesome videos. Keep them coming!😊.

How about drillings hole through the rivet. That way the material has somewhere to go when chiseling

Rain man Ray would be proud. "Everything is a hammer"

Great video Shawn...love you build series....looking forward to watch the rest of this series

Good demonstration of how well built that frame was

I'm so urban that never could I ever do something like this. So impressive! 🎉

Think the convex on the washer goes to the rubber bushing to help prevent extrusion of the rubber bushing. Also use anti seize and if you ever have to undo them they might com off without having to cut them. Got er done . Good enough !

Great video, truck and tenacity. Love watching this build.

Oh boy another build project!!!Been a while. 👍 Looking good!

Great build! I been planning on a very similar kodiak build. All ya need is pin punch on the air hammer after doing exactly what you did with the heads. Those rivets will pop right out. No drilling, no hand hammer.

Shawn doing work on this video!! Keep making it look easy!! Good work!!

When I was a up fitter, we would take a torch and melt the heads off the huckbolts off carefully with out fitting the frame and then the rivets you can drill a 1/8’ pilot hole in them and get your torch or plasma started in the center and work out word in a swirl. jC smith projects uploads a ton of videos he has a great trick for marking the holes by measuring out the distance on a steel rod and center points on each end and transfers hole for hole

I normally remove the rivet head with the most access, then I drill a 5mm (3/16") hole, next I heat the rivet red hot and after letting it cool, I drive them out with a flat tip air hammer. The hole allows the heated rivet to contract slightly as it cools. If this fails I just drill them out.

Those rivets are put in there and they are swelled to fit the holes tight from the factory. Only way I’ve gotten them out before by just drilling through them. That makes it a lot easier.

Kallstrom Sweet Corn here in Eastern , Washington . Funny thing we are adding to 2 feet to our 2005 GMC c5500 . We paid 5000$ for ours in 10-2023 at a RB Auction in Colorado but had another 5000$ into it by the time we had it back to Wash. [ all new tires , some mechanical work ] .

Congrats Shawn, on cutting-off the Rail's and mounting the Bracket's back-on. A tuff job. use one of the rail's to mount ur rear light's on.

Good job. I've never done anything like this and if id ever do I would follow some of your tips. Thanks for the upload!

Hell yeah! Looking forward to this!

I have the same mag drill from evolution. There are 2 set screw that hold the bit in. You need to loosen both of them. I've had 0 issues with mine.

Hello from the Netherlands. I'm pretty sure JC Smith showed how he did that with those rivets in one or more videos. nice new project truck thanks for the video Shawn . Sincerely Hollandduck

I know I say this all the time when you show your gmc trucks but man I wish we had them in Australia! Nice work Sean!

Well shawn what you have done up to now is really good, your going to end up with a handy truck 👍👍

Euroboor are the best mag drills to buy. I used to sell them in Canada and never got a bad report from the 100 or so drills I sold.

I found that the point drifts only spread the rivets outwards, so I cut the point off of one & used basically the shaft to drive the body out. Works well friend

Just like a rusty nut on a bolt. You heat the nut red hot and the heating and contraction seem to break the rust. Always came off for me.

Great video That's going to be a good heavy duty truck when your done. Keep up the good work

Not sure if it's on your to do list. I've worked for 2 companies that did chassis rebuilds/replacements for rigs. Make sure you fill all your frame rail holes. Just put bolts in them but make sure they aren't undersized. Apparently this is important for hardened steel frame rails. It will help the frame rail and help stop your double rail from splitting. Good work bud.

Great video Shawn - great skills and precision for a tough job. (Lincoln Electric- time to redeem yourselves with your flagship Plasma cutter for Shawn - so he can put it to good use). Great new series - although I do really like the drainage projects too.

I love this video your working your ass off lol.

I would have moved the axle prior to removing the cross braces to keep frame square and straight,

Nice looking truck

Nice. I used to take on projects like this. Nice work buddy

You get a cold chisle and a sledgehammer one person holds the chisle the other wacks it hard then take a hydralic press, use the frame to brace it and force the rivit out from the inside. There is a Pakastanni truck repair video series that will show you how to use the basic hand tools and muscle to get the job done

HeT was the tool for the job.

i have seen vids where they take the rivits out it was on smaller sized pickups though they use an airchissel where they first cut the head off one side then drive the rivit through using a drift tool in the airchissel think they used a bigger airchissel might help heating them up , another option is using a magdrill to drill the rivits out and dont use the grinders and aircissel , might be the cleanest solution

Yes a shawn truck video. I've been wanting to do this for a cheap hauler.

Also with those cross members maybe if you used a bottle jack on its side to spread those rails, the cross members could have slid out much easier, just a thought.

Should get a flapper pad and clean that rust and repaint before you bolt back up .

Sweet stuff!

Another Build...Great Video (1st time ive ever seen your camera(s) glitching for whatever reason) Nice truck looks clean, After you said it A Week of Tough labor, Didnt know magnetic drill's were a thing Unfort they didnt hold up, cant believe the new one had a faulty chuck assembly - Cant wait to see more.

I use a snap on and a mac long barreled chisel on those also if you have a set of torches a bit of heat will take a lot of fight out of them!

Ready for part 2!

Man what a project

I'm not sure if you noticed it or not but when you put those bushings on for those shocks you put the washer that is on the nut side of them on upside down every time I've installed them the paperwork always says have the rounded side facing nut in the side that has the dip in it needs to be facing the bushing

By using a point instead of a drift you are actually riveting the plugs rivet like those a red hot when put in so they spread along the length of their shaft hence the difficulty of removing same.

Great video! Patience is a virtue 😊

I'll say it was a well-built truck...

Cool project Very well done!

Rivots are red hot wen the are mounted and then hammered in = the deform completely. Make them red hot again and hammer them out.

Shawn if you watch the Pakistani truck repair videos you see the guys using chisels and sledge hammers mate, one holds the drift the other whacks it, heat is also your friend gas torch the rivets up :) great job

I usually drill out the center of rivets before trying to remove them

I think you should put a alumman bed on it so much lighter on the truck and maybe you can haul a little bit more load

Unbelievable job!…

J.C. SMITH's youtube channel is where you would get the best advise about building a flatbed . He does great work and his video's are really good and he explains everything extremely well . BTW Nice truck you there sir .

Watched videos from Pakistan and they do frame rebuilds and truck rebuilds and they just shere those rivets off with a hammer chessel

Great video keep them coming

the cup goes toward the rubber both sides look at how new shocks are fitted.

I used a torch and my plasma cutter carefully to remove the rivets

Evolution is top!

I've always die ground heads and drive out with big hammer and punch

I would have drilled through the rivets and welded in a bead to get some shrinkage when it cooled.

I use a flap disc and just take the whole head off... and the drill baby drill

Shawn the easiest way to get rid of the rivets is grind the mushroom head off then use a magnetic drill from the outside with a cobalt drill bit and drill through the whole rivet thats the easiest way cheers from down under

Done a lot of chassis work on concrete agitator trucks replacing rusted chassis rails and cross members, easiest way of removing rivets was using a mag drill and the correct size annular cutter. Hope this helps cheers

Good job almost there! God Bless!!

You got to grind them flish so you see the round outline of revit

Lots of options with this one. I would put a gooseneck hitch on. Then you have more options for trailers in the future. Also a good truck to add a fuel tank for your equipment. These Uhaul Cab n Chasis are a good buy when you consider what you are getting for the money. Just wish they still had the diesel trucks and manual transmissions. Although they could not rent those of trucks now. 😀

Great project, well planned. Sounds like a red tailed hawk at 54:54.

I would like to see the fuel tank moved to between the frame rails.

looks like the pakistani truck youtube channels jajajajajjajajajajja

Long video, may come back later, love the house drainage stuff.

I think those Rivets are red-hot when they are installed.

Sean "this plasma cutter is a piece of crap" Lincoln electric "nnooooo!!"

Ya gotta use a blow torch to get rivets out you don’t have to but it’s way easier and worth the gas

Very cool!!

Drill out rivets. You can easily drill out truck frame rivets. Center punch the mushroomed cap of the rivet, use 3/8inch drill bit to get just beyond the cap, then use 1/2inch drill bit and cap easily chisels off smooth but recessed beyond the hold of the now gone mushroomed cap. Then punch the rivet through with hammer and punch and it just pops out cleanly. Takes just a few minutes per rivet, sir. No plasma, no torch. Clean.😇

Big job. I noticed that you didn’t double flare the brake line. Is it not required in your area

You put some of the washers on the shocks the wrong way

Some of those magnetic drills have to be on metal with the magnet engaged for the motor to work.

So, everyone has got their own ideas. I think you know now that heat is your friend when it comes to those rivets. While you had the wire harness and brake lines disconnected, and the frame cross members removed, it seemed a good time to prep and treat the frame. You reinstalled your brackets over rust. I would have also removed the outer frame rail that must have been bolted on. Couldn't tell, but think it did not go up under the cab. This would allow you to treat between the frame rails to prevent FURTHER rust jacking. I think I would have wire brushed ALL steel: factory frame inside and out, all the brackets and cross members. Treat with rust converter, and after drying completely, hit them with primer and paint. You can use expensive POR15, but I think I would just use Rustoleum and hardener. That external frame rail will add some strength to the factory frame, so reusing it was a good idea, not to mention giving you lots of room to drill holes for the bed tie down. Before reassembling, I would have slathered all metal to metal parts with ample grease. I would NOT weld the factory and outer frames together. You are not supposed to weld on anything to the factory frame. The treatment would have added a lot of time to the build, but I think it would definitely help it last longer, especially if you are in the rust belt. Will check out your other parts (have not yet), but I think a steel flatbed would work great. I would also bolt on a rear hitch and put in a GN paying attention to how much rear frame you have on the back of the axle. I would not have cut the frame and just moved the axle up like others have suggested. Lots of people do that, but I would not be comfortable with that. Best of luck.

Heavy heat set rivets hold all along the rivet includes the shank they mushroom into the hole then as the rivets cool they contract clamping even tighter... Usually have to burn them out...

Instead of tearing the whole frame apart, why didn’t you just cut the frame and move the frame and axle where you wanted it and rewelded it? Would have saved you a whole lot of time and frustration.

Did you try drilling the rivets with a cobalt drill?