How to open (drilling) and close (w/ screws) your HW castings!

[LKS 0]

Hi buddies!

I´m new here!, I´d like to share a tutorial I made some years ago, to help anyone to easily open your diecasts!

This is my standard procedure to open & close customs and works very fine for me.

Note that this is not the only way to do this job, neither you have to use exactly the same tools I recommend.

This is only a guide and you may change, add, ignore, switch steps to meet your purposes.

The advantage in using screws is the fact that you can assemble and disassemble many times very easily.

Some sizes of drills/screws may be not avaiable in any region/country.

Remember:

- Always wear safety glasses;

- Be careful with your hands;
- Children, ask an adult to help you!

- Always hold the diecast in a secure place as a vice

- Protect the discast surface with a cloth


Tools & material needed:

01 - 2mm dia. drill (5/64 in)
02 - 3,5 to 4mm dia. drill (9/64 to 5/32 in)
03 - Sef tapping screw flat head philips 2,2 mm dia. x 6,5 mm lenght.
04 - Cordless drill
05 - Philips screwdriver







1st. step:
Drill a hole of 2mm dia. aprox.(1/64 in) on each rivet. The red tube is to limit the depth
This will be the guide for the self tapping screw.


2nd. step:
Drill with 4 mm dia until remove completely the rivet´s head


This is a view of the removed rivet and the guide hole ready to receive the screw:




3rd. step:
Open the car and do what you have to do! (your project)


4th. step:
Close with the screws


Ready!!!!


Factory rivets x Custom screws


I hope this help someone!

[danielh 0]

thanks for the tips! very useful when needed to change wheels .

[sinclair 0]

Very neat work, thanks for the info, and welcome to HWCM.

[chee keng hong 0]

great step by step guideline to the custom wheels swap tactics! Thanks for sharing! Now everyone can wheesl swap nicely..and can jus Forget the "super glue" or UHU!!
Looking for that micro screw ...now!!

[hassan 0]

whoa..thanx for the tip....

[madmax_jr1 0]

Thanks for the tips bro.... I'm just wondering... where can I get the the small size tapping screw???

[pqhd 0]

thanx for sharing!!!

[LKS 0]

Hi bros!

Thanks for the comments!!!

These screws are easy to find in great screws stores (the ones that sell only screws, drills, they have a wall plenty of small drawers with any type/size of screws).

Some people says that computers screws works. I don´t think so. The hard disk screws are too large (3mm) Computer case screws are large too (3.5mm). See the picture below.

The correct is on the left Ø2.2 x 6.5 mm

The smallest one in the center is a screw from a broken calculator, too small (1.6 mm)

These examples are the most commom small screws found at home!

[opzaney 0]

Superb ideas and info...with excellent pictures also!

[eight 0]

hello there mr. LKS...
thank you & awesome tip...
i have seen your tips in the hotwheelscollectors.com forum and they are freakin awesome... please share more of you tip... i really liked the one u did on the open door...

cheers mate and great to see u here in this forum...

[LKS 0]

Hi! Thanks everybody again for the sweet coments!!!


I´ll post all tips and customs i´ve made, so all users may try to do some of them!

Nice to see you here too!

[santonie 0]

grat bro.. n thanx for sharing...

[darthvader 0]

awesome!!superb!!!

[zoomckng 0]

great info with clear pic reference. thanks alot

darth: u see, there is no hammer involved in this process

[sahama 0]

Knowledge info, thanks

[madmax_jr1 0]

LKS wrote:

Hi bros!

Thanks for the comments!!!

These screws are easy to find in great screws stores (the ones that sell only screws, drills, they have a wall plenty of small drawers with any type/size of screws).

Some people says that computers screws works. I don´t think so. The hard disk screws are too large (3mm) Computer case screws are large too (3.5mm). See the picture below.

The correct is on the left Ø2.2 x 6.5 mm

The smallest one in the center is a screw from a broken calculator, too small (1.6 mm)

These examples are the most commom small screws found at home!

bro,

I think some screws from notebook or laptop can be used... because i've tried before... and its work... just be careful when screw to the chasis (base). Those screws are fragile to the tighten pressure (do not over tighten)... and screwdrivers must be in the correct size (cannot to big or too small).

[LKS 0]

Thanks for the info, i´ve never tried notebooks screws, probably they are smaller than desktops ones!

[Fernando Tumulak Torres 0]

thank s for the tip bro

[black megic 0]

skrew tu saiz aper ye...?

[jay8393 0]

Bro lks, how do you determine the red tube's length?

[LKS 0]

jay8393 wrote:

Bro lks, how do you determine the red tube's length?

Hi Jay!

The correct lenght is: one side should be close to the mandrel (chuck) and the other side should expose how much you want to drill in depth (lenght of the thread).

But you only need to take care in case of cars with low front profiles, like in sport cars.
Usually in rear ends, no special attention is required.

[jay8393 0]

[quote="LKS"]

jay8393 wrote:

Hi Jay!

The correct lenght is: one side should be close to the mandrel (chuck) and the other side should expose how much you want to drill in depth (lenght of the thread).

But you only need to take care in case of cars with low front profiles, like in sport cars.
Usually in rear ends, no special attention is required.

Yes, but how do I determine the length of the thread? Like you said, some castings have low front profile...

[LKS 0]

Sometimes I need to cut the screw about 1 or 2mm due to the short post.

Just put the screw and the drill bit side by side and put the red tube in position.
This measure should not exceed the post lenght! Please see the picture below:



Watch if the drill depth will not cross over the cast!!!

[jay8393 0]

LKS wrote:

Sometimes I need to cut the screw about 1 or 2mm due to the short post.

Just put the screw and the drill bit side by side and put the red tube in position.
This measure should not exceed the post lenght! Please see the picture below:

Spoiler:

 

Watch if the drill depth will not cross over the cast!!!

Spoiler:

 

OK, but if I'm not sure about how deep to drill (because this will be my first time opening a HW casting), so can I drill it a bit, remove the rivet's head, take apart the car and continue drilling after seeing the depth of the rivet?

[LKS 0]

Yeah! Exactly!

When you are not sure, the best way is that, like you said, take apart the chassis and the cast to have a better idea of how deep you can go with the 2mm drill bit.

Most people usually drill directly with the 4mm to remove the rivet first. I prefer to drill first with the 2mm a little, so the 4mm drill will not go out of center, but you may choose the best for you!

Good luck!

[jay8393 0]

LKS wrote:

Yeah! Exactly!

When you are not sure, the best way is that, like you said, take apart the chassis and the cast to have a better idea of how deep you can go with the 2mm drill bit.

Most people usually drill directly with the 4mm to remove the rivet first. I prefer to drill first with the 2mm a little, so the 4mm drill will not go out of center, but you may choose the best for you!

Good luck!

Cool! Thanks for the tips!

[hassan 0]

to drill or not to drill