#1: I am upgrading my stock 7/16-20 studs to 1/2 studs. My front wheels need 5/16 spacers and the stock studs won't reach. Could have upgrade to 3 inch long 7/16 studs and saved myself tons of work and headache....but where's the fun in that? Follow along.....
#2: I feel like every post we make we have to justify the section we post it in. This thread has both technical & performance characteristics. Performance b/c upgrading the wheel studs only serves a performance advantage and is commonly attributed to high hp applications and autoxing/drag racing. Technical b/c in my book any thread with fractions becomes technical and causes smoke to rise from the ears.

Materials needed: (car already safetly on jack stands, wheels off)
- 1/2" drill (corded prefered as battery will run out quickly)
-drill bits (9/16 or 17/32 for studs) (11/16th for additional rotor drilling)
-ball joint press
-air gun with various sockets
-long screwdriver
-Norval-o-matic with 2 small C-clamps
-hammer or rubber mallet
-Open ended 1/2" wheel lugs

Started by removing wheel and rotor. Used a ball bearing press to press the studs out of the hubs without having to remove the hubs from the spindle. I didn't want to mess with the bearings after just finishing the runnout.



I had to bend the dust shield a tad for the ball joint remover to fit around the rear of the stud.
It was tuff to get the bearing press to fit behind the hub.



Screw down the bearing press till it contacts the stud, make sure the rear of the stud is within the ring of the back of the bearing press so the stud can push thru.





I then hooked up the air gun to tighten the press to force the stock stud out the rear of the hub.



The stud pops out the back without a problem (no strain is put on the bearings as would happen if you just repeatedly beat the studs with a hammer)



After all studs are out, line up the Norval-o-matic tool which is specially designed to center the dowel into the 7/16th stock hole on the hub. Once the dowel is centered and in the hole, the guide tool is fastened down to the hub using the two small C-clamps. then remove the dowel and use the 1/2" drill and 9/16th or 17/16 drill bit to drill the holes in the hub larger for the 1/2" studs.





I installed these studs from summitracing.
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...0&autoview=sku



A 1/2" bit is too small, won't even clear the threaded part of the stud.
Could not get my hands on a 19/32 bit like recommended by other forum members. Found a 9/16th Craftsman HSS bit that cut like butter. I tested this bit for stud fitment on scrap metal. The 9/16th is very close to be perfect for these studs knurl. If I could have found a 17/16th stud it would have worked better. The 19/32 bit would have been bigger than the 9/16 and too big for these studs. But if these ever got worn down after years of use and started spinning I could upgrade my studs to a thicker knurl or just put a lockwasher on the stud behind the hub. For now I did the fronts with the 9/16th. I'll try to find a 17/16th bit tomorrow for the rears.


Make sure you put this screwdriver in this location or the hub will spin when you drill it.




You now also have to drill the rotors for the larger studs.
I put the 9/16th bit in a drill press to get this done quicker.
I also used the norval-o-matic to insure that the cuts are perfectly purpendicular to the rotor surface.




I'll save you the trouble. The knurl length on the studs I got is longer than the thickness of the hub. Therefore I found out the hardway that when reinstalling the rotors and pulled the studs into the hub the knurl pressed into the rotor too. This made getting the rotor off very difficult. To solve this, you can grind down the knurl on the studs or I enlarged the stud holes 3/4 of the way into the rear of the rotor. So the knurl would not contact the rotor but left a 1/4 of the hole 9/16 so the rotor still centered itself on the studs. So the most inward 3/4 of the stud is drilled 11/16th to clear the knurl and the last 1/4 is 9/16 to fit the studs.


To pull the studs into the hub I followed what fellow members have done. I pushed them into the hub from the rear with my hand, then put the rotors on followed by the wheels. I then squeezed my hand back around the wheel and held the studs in place with my finger so I could get open ended lug nuts ( http://store.summitracing.com/partde...0&autoview=sku ) on a few threads. Tightened the lugs down best I could with my hands then used the impact gun to pull the studs all the way into place. Make sure you use a star patern to pull the studs evenly and straight.







I used my stock wheels to show you how much thread will stick beyond the lugs on a stock setup. Norval mentioned to me a while back that he used similar open ended lugs b/c he wanted 100% thread interaction. I can't agree more. Remember my aftermarket TTII's have a 5/16 spacer so the mounting area is thicker than stock so there is less thread visible after being torqued down.


Overall, I am very pleased with the turnout. And the rims look amazing on the car, no problems with turning lock to lock or hitting the fenders.
I am in the process of fabricating a press for the rear hubs as the bearing press is too thick to fit inbetween the rear hubs and TA.
Unfortunately I also don't see any way around doing this without diassembling the parking brake. I'm not thrilled about taking the parking brake apart since Gary (GTR) set everything up perfectly.

Any tips? advice on the rear studs?





Sorry if this write-up got confusing. There's a lot of info and small details. And trying to get this all into a thread with pics gets difficult.
Any questions just ask. Hopfully I get my hands on a 17/32 drill bit from a local factory supply store and see if that works out better.
The 9/16 bit works nicely with these studs, the studs pull into place and won't spin, but I can knock them back out the back of the hub with minimal force of a rubber hammer. The stud teeth prevent it from turning or being reinserted outside of their newly created grooves.

The front wheels can be done easily in a couple of hours. Not sure on the rear yet. But it looks to be a weekend job if not a day.

Also, I ordered these from summit (currently backordered) to secure my wheels from theft. They are the only locking open ended studs I can find and will give me some peace of mind.
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...0&autoview=sku

 

This is one of my original threads.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...highlight=stud
On page 2, norval mentions he has a buddy that will build you your own Norval-o-matic tool for $30 plus shipping built to your specs.
I borrowed this tool from a forum member. I will still need to have my own Norval-o-matic built so when i have to replace the rotors in the future or ever have to replace a hub I can redrill them with the upgraded size.
Using the drill press I could probably get away with not using the Norval-o-matic tool as the bit somewhat centers itself in the existing 7/16 hole. But I am not an individual who has good luck with anything so I'll play it safe and have the tool on hand "just-in-case". And I wouldn't take a chance drilling the hubs freehand as most rotors and wheels are precision drilled so even if the studs are off a few degrees it throws the entire setup off.

 

I see some ARP studs on Summit with 0.4" knurl length. I think those would work better and not have any additional length of the knurl sticking out of the hub.

 

I actually liked the longer knurls, that way the rotor sits against the thickest part of the stud.

 

Great write up

If you cannot find a 17/32 drill just get a 13.5mm metric drill. That's only .001" off the 17/32" which is 13.48mm

Sometimes the metric system is your friend

 

Thanks Normally I cringe when I see metric as it caused me to drag out two sets of sockets. I'll make an acception this time!
17/32 or 13.5 mm it is!

 

I was checking your profile for a name but none was listed. It is nice when you can address someone at least by their first name.

But please tell me that the rear of your car is NOT being supported by concrete blocks and pieces of wood! I may be looking at something completely wrong in one of your last pics but it sure looks that way to me.

Accountants with dirty fingernails might become smashed flat accountants if one of those blocks starts to let go.

Please be safe.

Bob

 

Had the car on four heavy duty jackstands but gave them to my brother so we could fabricate his exhaust and subframe connectors on his 87 firebird formula 350. Had to put the vette on the cinderblocks for 10 minutes while I took pics and put the wheels back on.

I try to be cautious with person info on forums as I have heard of noobs joining free forums just to track down nice cars and steal them. Heard of more than a few instances on car domain.
Thanks for looking out though!

 

Just got back from the factory equipment supply store.
Asked for a 17/32 bit as the 9/16 was just a hair too large and a 19/32 even worse.
They didn't have any 17/32 in stock but the owner mic'd my stud and said a 35/64 would be the ideal bit. Picked up a S&D 6" HD Super Pemium Black & Gold bit that should do the job. The owner even rounded the tip a little on the outside edges so my hole is the exact size. Never seen that before, but he's got over 50yrs in the business. I won't argue.
I'll test it out on scrap metal tonight and let you know if this bit has a tighter fit. I'll also post some pics of what he did to the tip.
The 9/16 fit nicely but i was able to knock the studs back out with a few smacks of a heavy rubber mallet.
Round 2...rear hubs...tonight!
Any tips on removing the parking brake shoes?? easy disassembly and reassembly?

 

17/32" = 13.49mm

9/16" = 14.29mm

35/64" = 13.89mm

If that 35/64" is a little too tight then try a 14.00mm drill, that is a very common size and you should be able to find it at HomeDepot or Lowes.

Parking brake ?

When I removed my rear brake rotors all that stuff fell on the floor..... I'll install new hardware when i'm donr with the engine and trans..... maybe 2009

 

Mine too, my original e-brake pads just fell apart.

Stupid math question....how do you do the conversion to metric?
whats the formula?
Thanks!
-Brett

 

1" = 25.4mm

25.4 devided by 64 times 35 gives you the metric equivalent for 35/64"

 

mm times .03937 equals decimal

25.4mm X .03937 = .999998 inches or close enough to 1" for me!

 

Any progress?

 

Front wheels are done.
Had to clearance the stupid dust shields on the back wheels to make room to get the old stud out and the new stud in. That was a PIA. I thought i would be able to do everything without actually removing the PB pads but since i had to dremel/grind the shields I had to take the pad off that faces the front of the car. I have pics at home.
I got two of the studs off. I tried on the last three but exhausted my compressor and impact gun last night. Soaked the studs with penetrating oil last night. Gonna give it hell when I get home.
Don't worry guys, I have no force being exerted on the bearings since I'm still using the ball joint press.
I'll post after that.

 

looks good to me. i'm thinking of upgrading my studs as well since i am now, and will be for as long as i can think, run wheel adaptors.
the only thing i would add if you haven't already done so is true the rear spindles while you have everything apart. rear rotor run out has always been an issue with these cars and as long as your taking it down so far, i'd go the rest of the way.
BTW, good for you about your profile. that's why we have "handles"

 

If you have the capabilities, you may find it quicker to pop the rear axles out to gain access to the studs. Even if you pull the p/b hardware, you probably won't have enough room to replace the studs.

 

I am goiing to get rid of the front dust shields but I hear you need them for the Parking brake in the back. I am not quite ready to go to a Norval style parking brake just yet. Though I am sure I will end up minimalizing the rear dust shields...

Looking forward to the photos!

Excellent job so far.

THX

(BTW... at this point I would welcome some slime ball to find my classic and take it off my hands... If only it would roll!! )

 

looks good, and good job are you working in a warmer environment?

 

If thee front studs are loose, do you think it would be worth using thread locker?