MTFCA Forum

What's the best way to remove the two little rivets that secure the thin brass nameplate to the cast iron NH Holly carburetor body without damaging the nameplate?

You can't get there from here.

The old joke may be right in this case, but two things might work. One would be getting a knife under the end of the tag and prying. I expect that would likely do at least some damage to the tag. The other would be to mill the heads off the rivets, being careful to not damage the tag.Then the question becomes how to extract the headless rivets.

Mill or file the tops of the rivets to get a flat surface, centerpunch the rivets,, then drill the rivets out on a drill press. Warning ahead of time - setting that drill press up to do that is kind of a nail biter... but it's do-able.

Harold, I haven't tried to remove those rivets, but don't they have a spiral shank on them? I know other drive rivets do. Maybe use a left handed bit to help screw them out? Uncle Stan, any thoughts? Just a thought. Dave

Why remove it? I have rebuilt several without removing the tag.

You can fish up through from the other end for cleaning any crud out, and once installed the tag doesn't show much anyway. Just depends on what you are doing I guess.

If sand or bead blasting, I tape over the label and work around it. Look at the underside and see if the holes go through the casting, if so you might be able to punch them out from the back.

For what its worth they make reproduction tags and also the rivets in case you try to remove it. I haven’t had to do it on my NH rebuilds. I’ve used air and fine wire such as a guitar string to clean out the small passageways.
But if you mess up the original trying to take it off the new ones look pretty good.

It’s a tedious process and it usually takes me several attempts. I learned several of the methods from this forum over the years.

First, I use a small grinder and carefully grind off as much of the head as I can without tearing up the tag. A piece of masking tape over the tag will protect it from a few slips with the grinder!

Next, I use a small set of flush cut wire cutters and try to pry off what’s left of the head. If that doesn’t work, I take a small flat blade screwdriver and carefully pry the tag off over the remaining rivets. Then I take a hammer and flatten the holes in the tag back out enough that a new rivet will hold it down.

If I can’t drill out the old rivet shank, I grind it flush with the body and drill new holes close the the original holes. When you rivet the tag back down it will cover the old holes.

You sparked my curiosity! So, I tried to remove the tag rivets from a carburetor. I was able to get a small screw driver under the heads to pry, but the rivets just stretched a little and then the heads broke off. So, I drilled into them with a 1/16" drill bit and then a 5/64" drill bit, just using a Dewalt cordless drill. It appears that they are out. Now, the question is, what diameter should the hole be for the new rivets? I think I should have stopped with the 1/16" bit?

For what it’s worth Lang’s sells the rivets 6200RIV for most 17-27 carburetors,
1/16” dia. X 3/16” long and have a oval head. So says Lang’s.
So if you have a 1/16” hole maybe a tap or two to put them in if the holes are not exactly that size and you didn’t wallow out the hole?

If purchase a new tag they always come with steel drive screws and they look funny. Chaffin’s has the brass ones you can purchase separately.
I’ve only tried to save the tag if it says Model F because the reproduce the other 2 styles. The straight through tags for the ones that have them are slightly different so you might save those.
Once I pry the tag off, I hit the rivets with a cold chisel so they are flush, then drill one with a 1/16” bit. Get the new or old tag and stick a 1/16” bit through the tag into the hole in the carburetor body. Then drill the other through the hole in the tag, it may be slightly off but that way the holes line up with the tag. Make sure they are deep enough because you can’t remove the new drive screw. Start the drive screws into the holes and the old spray nozzle is cupped and fits right over the heads, tap the brass part of it with a hammer to drive them in.