Can you rotate the rotor around so the adjusting hole will line-up with a spring end, if so just remove upper and lower spring ends.
That should allow the shoes to retract some and maybe it will give you the clearance for removal...

 

Don’t use a screwdriver. Use your punch.

bmotojoe’s idea might work but I don’t know if you will have enough room to manipulate the spring end as the hole in the rotor is small. A small chisel could sever the spring wire if the alignment of the hole and spring end is perfect.

 

I thought the springs were pulling the shoes together, in toward the center? It would seem to me that if I break the spring, thst would make the shoes tend to go outward, away from center, and thst would actually impede my progress? Am I thinking about thst right?

 

When the parking brake is applied and the shoes are forced outward, the tension on the springs is increased. Conversely, when released, the springs return the shoes inward but only by what is allowed by the adjuster length. Breaking the spring will not cause the shoes to move outward as it is the lever action of the mechanism that is forcing the shoes outward. Breaking the springs will, however, allow the shoes to be less constricted but your biggest gain will be by dislodging (breaking)the adjuster

 

Better said then I would have,
cause I'm not seeing much progress...

 

 

I know breaking the adjuster is probably my way out. I'm trying one more thing. I have a bolt in each caliper mounting locations and using those to push the back of the rotor. You can see that I can get it pushed out to nearly the edge of the hub.... But it's still stuck on something....

 

I win! I F'ing win!

Now the next battles. How to get old ebrake stuff off and old studs, etc. Thank you all for the help!

 

buy that man a beer!!!

 

No - I need to buy you one! You ever get in these parts of town and it's on me.

 

Good job! Whew... Better a BFH than a cutting torch. Now the real fun begins...... Removing all the old parking brake stuff, rebuilding it and trying to get it all back in between the hub and the back plate.

You can see it wont hurt the hub to drill them out from the front side, but you still have all the P brake stuff to deal with.

New rotors, new or rebuilt calipers, new parking brake and you are all set.

Can you tell if it was stuck on the brake pads or the center of the hub. There should be tell tail marks.

 

Mark that alignment with a punch tap and stud to put ot back on same way…that marker aint gonna cut ot after fluids and cleaning

looks good..

 

I have punched some small marks in the hub and rotor in addition to the marker.

I got the ebrake parts off! I also took my dremel and cut the rivets down. They still won't punch through. Should I try drilling the rest, or can I just leave them?

 

Catch the outside lip and punch in towards center..you may be trying to beat through center and it’s expanding it..should pop out

 

I would think drilling them out would be better that hammering them out. Bearings and runout.

 

How many miles on the car? Given all that you have gone through to this point, I am thinking you should first check to see what kind of play you have in the axle bearings. I would hate to see you do all this work, only to have a bearing failure crop up in the not too distant future.

I don’t suppose you have a dial indicator - correct? For now, grab the axle at 3 and 9 and push/pull to see if you can feel any movement.

Regarding the rivet removal, yes, you could leave them in as is but you are so close to finishing the job right now. Revisit my post #25. Remember, you need to get the broken wheel stud out by the same caveman mechanical method. Now that you have the parking brake shoes off, you could cut a piece of pipe and place it behind the flange, wedged against the trailing arm to alleviate some of the impact on the bearings from all of the hammering.

 

Use a drill bit that leaves a very small ring of the rivet left, the rest should come out easy.

 

Congrats! Good on you for your patience and persistance!
I'm wondering what the inside of the disc looks like as to a ridge that was causing the hangup. Any clue about why it didn't want to come off?

 

Quick update as I got a little time with the car tonight. So, I won another small battle. All of the rivets are out! Banging was not working. So I drilled and stepped up in size. The largest was 5/16. When that is done, then a simple flat head screwdriver (you all know how I like to use screwdrivers) can be tapped behind the rear head of the rivet and then pry it and it pops out easily!
​​So, here is my hub with all the rivets gone and just the bloody studs left.


As to what the back of the rotor looked like... There is a small Ridge, see following photo. My other thought is this... Recall that my wheel was not on tight and it was wobbling a bit... It was enough to snap a stud off. I'm guessing one or more of the remaining studs are bent and that didn't help the rotor coming off either. In fact, when I try to put it back on, it does not go on nice and easy like you would expect.


So now it's down to the studs. I hit them a few more times with my big hammer tonight and none of them moved. I sprayed some penetrating fluid on front and back. I'm hesitant to just keep whacking away as I don't want to damage the wheel bearing (I did check be grabbing at 3 and 9...no wiggle). So what about using an air hammer? Would that be better? Or.. What if I cut them off near the hub and then started drilling again (uggg). I'll take any suggestions!

 

Congrats on getting the rivets out.

The studs, however, are physically much harder than the rivets so drilling will be much, much more difficult. That said, give it a go on the broken one and see how it goes. Be sure to use a cutting oil and have high quality bits that are sharp.