square hole punch

[mustanggarage]

hello. I am just getting ready to start doing some of the body modifications I will need to do before painting my tub. my northeast classics body did not come with the side marker light holes in it, so I am getting ready to make those. in ordering the marker lights from wild horses they have these plastic fasteners the screws go into. in the past I have drilled a hole roughly the right size and used a triangle file to square it up. it is a pain to do. does anyone know of a better way? I love tools and any excuse to buy a new tool is always a good thing lol.

 

[DirtDonk]

I hear that! So I'm listening in to hear what others have done.
I do the same thing as you, with the drill and file method.

New tools are cool.

Paul

 

[Broncobowsher]

I went looking if Greenlee makes square punches. They do. They are expensive. And I didn't see any small ones.

 

[hankjr]

I drilled holes that were a little smaller than the side dimension of the plastic piece. I used a small triangular or square file to square out the hole. It was actually less effort than I thought it would be

Hank

 

[SteveL]

I'm thinking there's gotta be a smaller hand punch with dies like a greenlee. Maybe check Klein stuff.
I love tools too

 

[martinphoto]

If you find one chances are it wont have a deep enough throat for what you want to do. That didn't sound right.;D

 

[cs_88]

Square drill bit?

 

[Broncobowsher]

YouTube, drilling a square hole.

 

[bax]

a small air powered nibbler will do what you want to do. You will still need to drill a hole and then cut the corners into it. also with a little rounding on that insert, it will push into a round hole. I think there is a small hand powered nibbler you can get. It's under 30 bucks and it works good. I have one in my shop. I will look for it.

 

[Steve83]

Use a square file - not triangle (unless you need a triangle hole):


(phone app link)

 

[Pa PITT]

... Back when I was a kid. I helped an old man work ''install'' windmills . He had a tool that pulled a hole through the angle iron . WE SOMETIMES HAD TO make patches.
We used carriage head bolts ..

 

[Wyflyer]

I've used a small pneumatic jigsaw to shape the holes. I remove the jigsaw blade and install a small flat file. The bits are held in by allen head screws.

 

[Howard2x4x4]

Sorta like Wyflyer, ^^, I drill a small hole and square it up with a metal blade in a saber saw.

 

[jagbucket]

go to a auto paint store or auto parts and buy round inserts done.

 

[Fastwest]

https://youtu.be/7n1r5XfVkyk

Guy is super smart! May not be what you need now, but it’s useful