On Sun, 26 Jul 2015 21:16:57 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

Specifically the 1/4" rivets in car doors that peel open like a banana
on the back side. How are you supposed to remove them?

I hit the stem as hard as I dared with a center punch, but a drill
wouldn't bite, so the van's owner used an angle grinder which was
kinda messy.

-jsw

They're like any single-side pop rivet. You either drill into the
head, using a drill about the same size as the hole, centering on the
hole; or you cut them off with a thin cutoff wheel in a Dremel. The
former is preferred.

Is the steel mandrel shank still showing in the hole? Sometimes they
break off near the top of the hole and you first have to drive them
down with a punch. That can be a problem in very thin metal.

I hate removing those damned things, but they are a slick device for
initial assembly. The peel types are made for weak materials and the
"petals" spread the load. The mandrel has four little cutters on it to
cut and expand the petals.

--
Ed Huntress