Ok....I am wanting to know what the best way is to remove the rotor from my '79...Yes, I know...Believe it or not, it's the original rotor and therefore is still riveted on to the hub. The manuals I have say to drill out the rivets with a titanium drill bit, and then it shows someone using a air-driven cutting disc to finish the job. Problem is I don't have an air compressor...Any tips for the proper drilling/removal of this original rotor? (can't wait to find out about the other wheels as well)

 

Grind off the heads of the rivets, and then use a small punch to knock them out of the holes in the hub. You got a dremel?

 

You don't need titanium, the rivits are soft. get a center punch, punch a guide bump, get a small drill, like 1/16" drill it in about 1/2 an inch, then get a 1/8" bit and follow that hole. then get a big bit, and drill off the head of the rivit. Now you have the break the rotor free of the rivit stalks, what i did was take a crow bar and brace one end on the frame and the other on the rotor and p u l l. alternate from side to side and as soon as you get a little movement the game is over, remove the rotor and punch them out. But heres the trick.... the rotors were turned at the factory on the hubs for 0 runout, you will need to mark a rotor hole and wheel stud, so that when you reinstall it, it is in the same location as it came off. neglecting this may cause excessive run out and air in the brake lines. Obiously, you have to do this before you remove the rotor for the first time, once it's off and not marked, it's too late.

 

Bill, you didn't waste any time getting down there did you! It was nice meeting you too!! If you need any help, let me know. I am about 30 minutes from you. If you have problems with those rivets, I have a compressor and grinder if you need.

Anyway, Runningman, one of his rotors is in pretty bad shape so turning it is probably not an option. I think he was planning on replacing both of them with new ones.

But I agree, if you re-use the original rotors, it has to be put in the same location. Many years ago when I was younger and dumber I had the rotors on my mom's car turned. I didn't know you had to mark them. When I put them back on, it shook when braking pretty bad. ENded up getting new rotors.

 

Yea, when you replace the rotors you can get into a whole can of worms. you may get lucky and not have a problem, but i will list some of the potential problems that can come up, Bruthish probably allready knows these, but this is from my 1 year of working on the brake problems experience.

1. first, are you using stock lip seal calipers or after market O-rings? Sounds like Lip seals, if so the factory spec for no air pumping is 8/1k's of rotor runout max. Change the rotors and if the hub to rotor faces aren't true, you will exheed this, will you get air? don't know, but that's the factory spec.
running o-ring calipers greatly reduces the air pumping effect, so you can get away with more runout, but a 4 wheel set from VBP costs $500. I'm just running the rears as O-rings- works.

things you can do about runout, If it causes a problem:

1. Measure the runout and shim them to 3/1k's, PITA and not fun.
2. Go to a GM dealership and have the rotors turned on the car, with one of the NEW bolt to hub machines. this is the route I went. $75 per wheel... but.....

that won't do you any good if your wheel bearings are worn, as- as the wheel moves, so does the rotor, so the first thing to check would be the play in the bearings. the fronts are easy to replace, the rears, generaly only a qualified corvette mech can do it ~300 a side w/parts.

so there you have it,, if...if....if.

these brakes can be a Giant PITA, or may just work fine. lot of dependant variables, not as simple as it seems, or you may get lucky, but bear these variables in mind. Good luck,, C.

 

Yeah, I went home from the restaurant and jumped right in to it! I may very well take you up on your offer for the grinder...I'll let you know in the next day or so...Thanks! (I may try the "manual" method just to see how that goes before I bother you with bringing all that stuff over) I've definitely decided to replace both rotors...I believe in replacing things in pairs, just like you would with brake pads. I'm also leaning toward replacing both calipers..NAPA has them for $83 each + core charge. They're made of aluminum, which I figure could at least shave off a couple of pounds.

 

Thanks so much for the info/tips...Can't wait to get in there and give it a try....That way I may not have to bother bruthish to have to go to the trouble of bringing all that stuff over to my place

 

Hey bud, glad to meet you this weekend.

Might I also suggest you replace the soft rubber flex lines. They get old and the insides of the lines swell, locking in pressure. It's not uncommon for you to have a locked up caliper because the line swelled and won't let the pressure out of the caliper.

Also, when you have the front up in the air, check the wheels for both play in the bearing, and in the tie rod ends. If you're not sure how to do that let me or Chris know and we'll help you with that.

Oh, Sarah enjoyed meeting you as well.

 

Yeah, it was a good time I'm getting ready to go try to drill out those @*$^!# rivets. (why did GM do that!) I definitely want to replace the rubber flex lines as well. Would you recommend going stainless steel, or just stick to the rubber versions? I'm also getting ready to do some research on whether I should simply clean the calipers, re-build the calipers, or just start off new. Time will tell, I guess.

 

I recommend the stainless steel braided ones if the wife will let you order them. They will outlast the rubber ones for sure, adn they look a lot nicer too.

As far as calipers go, I like the $69.99 EA option at Autozone / Advance. That's not including the core so take your calipers in when you replace them. They are stainless steel sleeved, and come with a lifetime warranty. Last I checked they were remanufactured here in the US too.

 

Sounds good....Time to go work on those rivets, so don't be surprised if your phone rings later!

 

Ha ha...it's on and READY.

 

Its funny, I went ahead and pulled my Master cylinder out....the caliper with the broken bleeder valve in it and took them down to Advance auto. Came away with remans of those plus the right side caliper and new hoses. Hopefully I will have brakes soon!