68 Battery Cable Replacement

[Mark Milchuk]

Replaced the Battery Cable on my 68 Corvette.
Problem was that some of the Battery Cable Stud
Plate Fasteners(There are 6 on the car) snapped
in two when they were unscrewed. All were very rusty
and threads were not good. Therefore, I need/want
to replace them.

My question is how do you remove the old ones and attach
the new ones.

Each stud plate is attached to the body with two rivets.
To remove them do I need to take a small drill bit and
drill out the rivets? Whats the proper bit size to use?
Is there a better way of doing this?

Once I get them out how do I rivet the new ones back into place?
I have used pop-rivet guns before but these are not pop-rivets.
Look like old fashioned rivets. Is there a special tool I need
to use these rivets? If so where can I get it?

Thanks for helping,
Mark

[Joe L.]

Re: 68 Battery Cable Replacement

Mark-----

You've got it sized up about right----to remove the plates, you need to remove the rivets. These are soft aluminum rivets. You can remove them by drilling them out (use a 1/8" drill on the dead center of the rivet) or you can just grind the head off and punch the shaft through.

You can obtain exact reproduction rivets from Dr. Rebuild. His rivets are the best on the market. However, setting any of these rivets can be a chore. You have to get someone on one side with a "bucking bar" and someone on the other side with an impact tool fitted with a rivet setting tool. I think that you can purchase these tools from Paragon or LICS. If you're not fater exact replacement, you may well be able to replace these rivets with pop rivets. They would be a LOT easier to install.

The plates with integral bolt are GM-discontinued. However, they are available from suppliers like Dr. Rebuild. They're the same as those used for firewall heater box retention.

[Mark Milchuk]

Re: 68 Battery Cable Replacement

Thanks Joe for all of your help !!!!

It has been and will continue to be a great
learning experience.

-Mark