How does one remove the rear rotors for replacement. I know that they are riveted on. What is the correct procedure. Any help would help. Thanks, L8TER, Paul.

 

pull the calipers, try to close the parking brakes shoes-they might be frozen,center punch the center of the rivet, drill through with 1/4" drill step up to a 5/16" drill to drill out the rivet head, use a chisel to pop the rivet head off,remove the rotor. If using the rotors again mark the position/relationship of the rotor to stud so they can go back on in the same position.
Gary

 

Do a search on this one. Someone just took a heck of a lot of time to describe, in detail, how this is done. I had it, until my hard drive crashed. Just the same, I followed the directions, and it worked like a charm.

it helps to have a dead blow hammer to dislodge the rotors. You don't want to use a hard hammer, as it can damage the rotor. But I found that using a 3/8 drill bit, while removing the rivets and heads, did not help in removing the rotor itself. Not easily.

Also, make sure you buy a new 3/8 cobalt bit. A normal bit will not work.

 

THIS IS THE ADVISE THAT I GOT FROM TOM:

Use a punch to put a dot on the rotor, and a dot on the spindle flange.
These marks allows you to put the rotor back on exactly where it came from.
The spindle & rotor were machined as a "unit" by GM to minimize runout.
Runout causes spongy brakes due to "air pumping" at the caliper, so you want the rotor to go back on exactly where GM originally installed it.
Get two NEW good drill bits (for example, cobalt coated)... one smaller than 11/32 and one 11/32.
The rivet hole size is 11/32.
Center punch the rivets exactly on center to make sure you don't drill off-center.
You want to avoid drilling the rotor as much as possible.
Drill the center of each rivet with the smaller bit until the tip of the bit goes just below the rotor face.
Using a smaller bit gives you some leeway to avoid hitting the rotor.
Then drill with the 11/32 up to the rotor face.
If the head does not pop off, then hit it with a 3/8 drill bit.

The more you weaken the rivets, the easier they will tap out of the spindle after you remove the rotor.
Drilling all the way through them initially, will help a lot in punching them through in the end, but you don't have to drill all the way through to remove the rotors.
If you wail on the spindle to get the rivets out, you can damage the spindle bearings... same with wailing on the rotor with a hammer to get the rotor off.

When I was taught how to use a drum & rotor turning machine 25 years ago, they taught me not to pound excessively on any drum or rotor because it can cause the part to warp. I can't verify this, but it is part of the "knowledge base" that was handed down to me.

As posted, the parking brake is probably hanging you up as well.... adjusting the star adjuster (through the hole) down should tighten the brake, adjusting it up should release the brake shoes.

I just did an 80, and one star adjuster was rusted so bad that I had to heat it up through the hole with an oxy-acytelene torch until it was cherry red, and it still was hard to turn.

First try to get the rotors off without messing with the brake adjustment.... it creates more unnecessary work if the rotors will come off without fooling with the parking brake.

Once you remove the rivets, they do not have to be relpaced. The lug nuts hold the rotor tight. The caliper & pads also restrain it... you can't remove the rotor without first removing the caliper.

The parking brake preliminary adjustment is made through the holes in the rotor.... they must line up with the holes in the spindle to allow the adjustment. Just line up your "dots" (per above) and you will be fine on the re-install.

Tom


ROD :cool:

 

Gary, Joe...Thanks for the info.
Rod, ditto. That's a lotta typing! I definatly appreciate it. I discovered yesterday that the drivers side rotor was once removed. So I'll only have the passenger side to deal with. I'll print out these directions and follow them. Thanks, L8TER, Paul.