Head Badge Removal
 

Want to remove the badge from My 1987 Pinarello Montello for reuse after refinishing. It is in amazing good condition compared to the rest of the paint after 20 years, 12 of which it was out of my care and in the hands of a friend.
Looks like 2 rivets appear to be aluminum. My thinking is just take my Dremel and grind from the inside of the headtube and all should separate fairly easily.
Am I correct in this assumption and/or does anyone have a better way to do this while not destroying the badge.
Thanks for any and all knowledge from those who have been there before, Don.

Easier than that, 1/8" drill bit will do the trick, right through the middle of the rivet. That's what I used to remove 1000s of rivets when I restored vintage race cars. If you want a lot of speed, use a drill that runs off of an air compressor.

You could start with a smaller diameter if you think the 1/8 is too big.

Are you free handing or in a drill press?
I don't want to, though I'm pretty confident with my skills after 35 years of construction and mechanical work, have that once in a while slip that would damage the product.
This badge is probably the only one I will find.:)

power drill and small bit should do the trick, worked just fine for the 10 or so that I have done.

Freehand. But the rivets I drilled out had a little dimple in the middle so there were no worries.

I had a bad experience using power, and was advised by an old hand to use a hand drill - if available.

For aluminum rivets, I've found it very easy to knock their backs off from inside the head tube with a long screwdriver and a mallet. Having the little bulb of the rivet still intact is nice if you'll be gluing it back on (which is what I've done). Otherwise, you'll need to put a blob of solder in those holes or re-rivet.

Neal

These are smooth and rounded so no pilot "dimple", thanks for the info, Don.

Yeah, shearing them off might be worth a try before getting out the power tools.
I think I even have a rounded chisel in my tools somewhere.
Thanks for your suggestion, Don.

Wow, haven't used one of those since high school wood shop back in '68.

The real question is how do you re-attach a head badge (other than with screws-- I don't want somebody with a screwdriver to help themselves to my head badge)?

A center punch will give you a starting point. Then start with a 1/16 bit and work your way up.

McMaster Carr carries every rivet and rivet gun known to mankind. They probably have an exact match to the OP's rivets.

yes the original cordess drill:D

I'll let the folks at Cyclart do that if I decide to go with original badge. Might use a decal replica with clearcoat instead but want the badge intact incase I change my mind.

Been there ... done that. The rivets are generally aluminum and very easily drilled or even cut without damaging the badge. I replaced mine with screws, but now that I have a $20 pop rivet tool, which I bought when i needed to replace a window regulator on one of the Audis, I plan to re-rivet.

The holes for the rivets are 5/64".

I doubt that a 'Dremel', will allow much room to grind; a long half-round chisel (cape)

or a large rat tail file might just do the trick however. (in from the head tube)

The remaining portion of the rivet may be driven out with a long punch carefully used,

alternating from one end of the tube and then the other end. (light taps)

'Pop', brand rivets are both too large and do not give the 'look', that you desire.

Small screws or 'drive-ins', (preferable) would secure the badge.


Regards,
J T

My dremel has the flexshaft with hand piece so tight spots aren't a problem.
Will try chisel method first then see what happens.
As for re installing I'm leaning towards the smoother decal under lots of clear coat look but if I reuse it I will let the frame finisher handle it. Im sure they have a set up already for these types of rivets.
I would probably let them remove it but I want to strip the frame down to the bare chrome myself.
Thanks for all the suggestions, Don.

Your dremel with flex shaft and a burr or stone should work perfectly from inside the head tube. That's how I did it after the rivet spun when I tried to drill it out.

I used tiny stainless steel screws to reattach the badge. I thought the screw heads were too big, so I turned them down a bit. Screws make it easy to steal the headbadge, but I never let the bike out of my sight when It's not locked in the house. I spent months tracking down a Carlton headbadge and when I found one it wasn't cheap.