Sunday, April 8, 2012

Makeshift Automotive Panel Tool

After pulling an interior panel on my Honda Odyssey there were several panel studs left behind.  There is a tool available to remove these, I had one at one time and can't find it; probably lent it to someone ages ago.  I was in the middle of installing trailer wiring and I didn't want to go out and buy one.  Here's how I made my own.

1.  Sneak in the house and find an old fork -- wife should not be aware of this
.

2.  Spread the center two tines apart.  I tried to "puncture" them with an old screw and my vice, and wasn't real successful.


Next I mounted the screw in the vice and tried to force the tines apart.  This worked much better.


The best method was just to use a skinny pair of vice grips.


3.  The result worked pretty well for popping these guys out without damage.