I'm parting out a '86 GT. I'm at the point of taking the ground effects off...or should I say attempt. I have no clue how to remove the rivets without damaging the body. It looks like I would drill out the centers but I'm afraid I may damage the ground effects? Plus that seems time consuming...

Also on a side note, what in the world is holding the bottom of the fender to that small ground effect? I have everything loose on the fender but that area, and I cannot see anymore bolts or even rivets in that area. As usual, thanks ahead of time!

use a punch and knock out the center of the rivet, then use a large drill bit and drill off the head. You don't want to try to drill out the rivet, as the center pin is hard steel. Just tap it out.

[This message has been edited by jaskispyder (edited 11-28-2011).]

^^^ what he said

Bring a 1/4" drill bit for the smaller rivets, and a 5/16" for the bigger ones, and a can of WD40. Go slow with the drill, and squirt some WD40 on the bit to help keep it cool. You don't want the rivet to get hot, and melt the plastic body panel.

On the GT front fenders, the ground effects piece on the fender hooks into the rocker panel. There's a plastic tab that you can depress with a thin flat-blade screwdriver to separate the two pieces (insert the screwdriver between the ground effects piece and rocker panel, and depress the tab to release it). You will have to remove the rocker panel from the car first, before removing the fender. After removing the rocker panel, you'll see a big rivet that was hiding behind it. That's what is holding your fender right now.

[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 11-28-2011).]

quote Originally posted by Fiero Finale: Also on a side note, what in the world is holding the bottom of the fender to that small ground effect?

there's a rivit in that as well. Can't remember exactly but i think there's a rivit holding on the fender, but the rocker panel is covering it....or the fender is covering the one holding the rocker. Anyway, there's a rivit down at the bottom..., look on the backside and you'll see it. And yes, drive out the center with a punch then drill off the head. And yes, it can be a pain in the butt. When mine go back on i'm using riv-nuts in case they ever need to come back off. Also be careful when drilling out the ones across the top of the rocker. When i did mine the drill slid off the rivit and gouged the plastic. the cover should hide it but i was still po'd.

Jaskispyder is correct. The center pin is called a mandrill and it is some pretty hard steel that breaks away during assembly as the riveting tool pulls the mandrill up to expand the aluminum rivet body. This is designed to leave part of the steel mandrill in the rivet. But if you knock the mandrill out with a pin punch, the remaining rivet is very soft aluminum. If drilling the head, as he recommends, does not work, please be aware that the aluminum rivet body outer diameter is 1/4 inch. If you carefully drill down through the old rivet's hole with a 1/4" drill bit it will not damage the chassis or ground effects. The rivets tend to spin when you drill them. I always wedge a small flat blade screwdriver under the head to keep it from spinning. Then you can use new 1/4" replacement rivets to reattach later. I believe both Northern Tools and Harbor Tools sells the rivets and a pulling tool for reasonable prices.

I use a T-15 Torx driver and a hammer. First you knock out the center then (with the Torx driver inside the rivet where the center part was) you move it around until it pops out (up/down & side to side). It takes just a few seconds to do each one.....I can get the ground effects off a car in under 5 minutes. YMMV.