Hi, I'm new to modding and I have some questions.
As a newbie on a tight budget to this whole modding thing, I have a few questions.
- Do you have to drill the rivets with just 3.5 mm? Is it possible to do it with a 3.2 mm, or is 3.5 required?
- Can you remove an axle on a Hot Wheels without damaging the thing that holds it?
Edit: To all the people who have commented, Thank you!
Discussion
I'm not sure on mm but I'm sure there is a little room to play with. As far as removing axels your going to destroy that tabs that hold them down which is fine. JB Weld holds the axel down even better and makes it more stable. A mix of JB weld only costs about $6 and goes a long way.
I use a 3/16" (not sure what that is in mm) Red Helix drill bit by Milwaukee for removing rivet heads. The best bit I've used. I agree with BlueLine and RedLine on the axles--glue them down.
Drill size can vary. I really doubt any of my handful of drills that I use are metric. Find one or two that work and go for it. As for the tabs, like Blueline said, they are going to get ruined once you take out the axle but don't worry about it. The JB will work just fine. If you have a small straight screw driver you can usually pry open the tabs fairly easily because the metal/plastic is not very hard. If you have trouble which does sometimes occur, you can use a file or dremel tool. Just becareful not to completely cut the axle into. Once you do a few you will get the hang of it. When replacing the axle just turn upside down on the jig or whatever your using to make the axles straight and apply a little pressure. There are a variety of axle jigs out there. I personally now have 5 that I use depending on what I am doing. The best way to learn is actually start doing it and the more you do the better you will be at doing it. If you mess up, hey it's a $1 to $1.5 a car. You can either tap the base back down or JB weld the base. Either or will work.
Here .... this will help:
www.redlinederby.com/topic/ya-gotta-start-somewhere/4705
So overall my suggestions are to just try it :) Try different sizes and stuff and see what works best for you. I'm not even sure what size drill bit I use when grinding out rivets...I think it's a 3/16? I just picked the one that seemed to get the job done - one just slightly bigger than the rivet head. Here's the guide.
But yes, you can remove the axle without damaging the clips but you would have to cut the axle and slide it out, making it unuseable. So I'm not sure how that helps but yes, I suppose it's possible. Most guys just cut the clips, take out the axle, file things down and then put the axle (or replace it) and glue it down.