spring steel body braces

[steelkiwi75]

Is there another way to put bolt holes without buying a 150 dollar hole punching gadget?

[TheJet-09]

I was concerned about the same thing, so I bought a hardened 1/4" drill bit figuring the $10 or so was worth a try. It worked fine for me. Now that was drilling holes in the spring steel that was already on the car, so I can't say I've tried it in brand new stuff.....but I don't see what the difference would be.

[TALON75]

If you need to do a lot buy the punch, it is worth it. Bits dont last very long unless you really take your time and go slow. I would recommend the screw type press as opposed to the one you hit with a hammer.

[fast46]

Here's a link to a video for a nice tool. Yes it's a bit more expensive but it has some pretty cool features like the ability to do both spring steel and aluminum, round holes and slotted. I've punched a ton of holes and have seen no wear on the tooling at all. If your serious about making braces, this is the tool to own.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBbuhWfuYuA&feature=youtube_gdata_player