Rear Disk Removal Help!!!

[70 VETTE 454]

hello again everyone, been a while, but been busy on my frame and suspension lately...

well I just started on removing the rear suspension on my 70 the other day, but I can't seem to remove my rear disks from the hub assy. :confused They have been on there for over 30 years, and don't look like they have ever been disassembled, maybe they are just really worn together. I was told they should just slide off like drums do, but they don't seem to want to work like that at all. I did everything short of banging on them, cause I don't really want to mess up the rotor. Also, I just don't want to start taking off bolts, even though it is all coming off eventually, cause I think it is easier to take off with the independent control arm still attached to the frame. Any suggestions on how to remove them, or what have been any past experiences......
I have already removed my leaf, and half shafts, and all the emergency brake lines as well as calipers and every associated brake lines and all that is holding it in place is the strut rods, shock and rear control arm. ;help
the front ones came off the spindle with ease, but that's not the case with the rear....do they need to be persuaded.....

thanks again, and all help only makes for better knowledge to help out someone else.....in need....:cool

Dave

p.s.
pics of the entire process to follow when done with this part.

 

[JohnZ]

The rear rotors are riveted to the spindle flange - they were done that way originally so the rotors could be machined as a part of the spindle to reduce lateral runout of the rotor surfaces (has to be .004" or less total indicated runout). Only way to remove the rotors is to drill out the five rivets, but I don't recommend it. If you're tearing it all down anyway, just leave them riveted to the spindle and remove them as an assembly with the spindles. If you decide to drill out the rivets and remove the rotors from the spindles anyway, make sure you mark both parts so they go back on indexed exactly the same way to the lug studs, or you'll have caliper air-pumping problems.

 

[70 VETTE 454]

Do you mean to the part where the half shafts go bolted on to.
there, on the back side of the rotor, I see a bolt in the middle w/a pin, but to me it doesn't seem like the rotor will come off by removing that bolt.
where are these rivets, I haven't seen them.....how do I get to them, or where should I have to be looking for them at. are they where the studs are, or on the opposite side.
well, what do you do if you want to replace the rotor, which I intend to do. do you slide the new rotor over the hub again or what. how is the new one secured in place if the original was riveted in place.
there also has to be a way to remove it, if you ever needed to replace the parking brake pads right, for some odd reason, besides restoration.
now I'm confused more.....
I have that Hanes book for my vette, and it shows the rotor off, to adj. the parking brake. and it talks about rivets, or screws in some cars. but it doesn't show them either.

Dave

 

[Redmanf1]

Dave
The rivets are in-between the studs. They look counter sunk. Just take a drill and take the head off the rivet and pull the rotor off. If you are doing the brakes I would go with SS sleeved calipers and brake kit. Hope this helps.

 

[Robin7TFour]

dave, if you end up taking the entire spindle assy. off. i would recommend turning down the shaft diameter slightly. make it a very loose press fit. you'll have a much easier time setting up the play in the spindle.
robin

 

[70 VETTE 454]

Redmanf1,
ok, now I know what your talking about, I did see that, they look like, headless screws, with an inverted head, but they don't look like rivets to me, but I know what they are now.
how far do I have to go till the head comes off, any special drill bits? then you just pull the rotor off....what about putting it back or a new one, anything special there for that assy. process. :s

thanks for the advice, I haven't bought my new calipers/rotors yet, but I have been looking at VBP set up for the replacement.
where can I look for those ss calipers at......


Robin,
I'm a little lost on what you mean by turning down the shaft diameter slightly. and making it a very loose press fit for setting up the play. but I am taking off the entire rear spindle assy. off.
:confused but im learing as I go, thanks to you all.....

thanks for the feed back guys...
Dave

 

[Redmanf1]

You do not need any special drill bits. It's been so long I can not remember the size of the bit. Just take the head off just like you would any other rivet and you might have to persuade it a little. Muskegon brake is as good as any body but there are allot of companies offering them. If you buy as a kit it will be cheaper. Nothing special when you reinstall. The wheel holds the rotor in place. I think what robin74 is talking about is the spindle size. If turn it down a little you will not need to press it together or apart.
I hope this helps.

 

[matchframe]

Hi Dave,

I drilled my rivets out about a month ago so I could get to my E-Brakes. I think it was a 1/4 inch bit to drill through the rivets, then I had to use an easy out to twist the rest of the rivets out. You could probably use a big screwdriver and hammer to knock out the rest of the rivets. Some of the rivets actually fell apart as I drill them out. It took me the better part of a day to drill all of the rivets out. If you plan on reusing the same rotors, I would do like JohnZ pointed out, and mark where the rotor matched the hub, and reinstall the same way. If you are planning going with a different rotor, then I would not worry about it.


Hope this helps!

Bill

 

[clar2001]

Odds are the rotor will not just pull off once the rivet heads are drilled off and the brake caliper has been removed give a swift hit on the back with a large hammer to free it, then it will slide off ,now we are not going to pound it off just a swift wack to break if free ,then you can punch out the remaining part of the rivit the new rotor will just sit on there lose with the calipor and wheel holding it in place ,this is also a good time to clean and inspeact your E-Brake becouse it is now exposed .

 

[70 VETTE 454]

Redmanf1
thanks again, for the help. ill see what I have to drill it out and then ill do it today, since ill be leaving work this morning.
ohhhhh, what a hard job I have........but then again someone need to protect this great land of ours.....



Bill
at least I know someone else had more success with their rear disks than me, so I now know its possible to do.
like I mentioned above, I am going to go at it this morning, well, maybe late morning, but I will get to it here as soon as I get home.

what exactly is and easy out. is that easier than a hammer and screwdriver.
so I take it your process went well, and all is ok now. I am going to replace my rotors anyway, so ill just put the old ones aside for now. they are still good as far as I can tell, but I really want the modern slotted rotors, since I plan on have around 500HP, I think I would be wise to have adequate stopping power.
thanks for your advice
Dave


clar2001
thanks for the tip......
I probably would of started banging away if they wouldn't come out once I drilled out the rivets....
ill be replacing the whole assy, so all will be new.....
thanks again for your input.
Dave

 

[matchframe]

Dave,

An Easyout is a tool that looks much like a drill bit. It has ribs that makes it look like a large screw, except the "threads" are backwards and at a more extreem angle. The other end of the tool has a square tip so that you can use a wrench on it. Once you drill the hole through the rivet, you take an Easyout and hammer it into the hole, then take a wrench and twist the rivet until it is loose and starts to back out. You can buy an Easyout at any autoparts store. They don't cost too much, just a couple of dollars at the most. A screwdriver will probably do the trick. I tried the easyout because I had one in my toolbox.

Also, my rotors were pretty hard to pull off once I got the rivets out. I had to use a wheel puller to break them loose. Once they started moving, I had to catch them before they fell to the floor. You can rent a wheel puller at pretty much any parts store. I think some parts stores will actually loan tools like this out. AutoZone loans tools if I recall correctly.

I am going to replace my rotors anyway, so ill just put the old ones aside for now. they are still good as far as I can tell, but I really want the modern slotted rotors, since I plan on have around 500HP, I think I would be wise to have adequate stopping power.

"The art of wisdom is planning ahead!"

Good idea on the slotted rotors.



Bill

 

[Redmanf1]

If you are going to put allot of HP to the rear you should get the beefed up rear end cover and the harden u joints with the grease zerk in the cap. Also while you are doing this much you should get the new slotted rear shims for the trailing arms because it makes allot easer to do an alignment

 

[Redmanf1]

I guess I should explain the rear cover. They are notorious for breaking where the rear spring bolts to the cover.

 

[70 VETTE 454]

matchframe

Bill do those really work.....I know what that is now, I have seen them before, I just never knew what they were called.
I haven’t had too much luck with bolt removers, or stripped nut removers, or even stripped screws for that matter. the only thing I have bought was that thing from sears, advertised by bob villa to remove stripped screws, but that didn’t work as planned, it just made it kind of a rivet looking head, and the only thing it removed was any sort of gription of it at all....... I need something like that is it works......
what do you use for seized nuts on bolts, or stripped nuts that have no real leverage. I tried that gator grip thing, but that got returned the same day, it dose not work like it claims.....but my dremil on the other hand cut it right off, but I only did that cause I was replacing that part anyway, but if im not, what will work.
Dave



Redmanf1

thanks again, but im getting that performance suspension kit from vbp, its about a grand, minus the u/l control arms. its not the top of the line, that one has everything incl. u/l c/a, but that’s 2 g's.... little more than I want to spend, but the one im getting is one step below that and is more than enough for street use, and a occasional (ok,ok, a little more than occasional)....letting her rip against those little imports......hahaha....
but I wasn’t planning on a beefed up rear end cover or harden u-joints. what’s the deal with those, how will that benefit over the stock ones there already, I mean, it was more that capable to produce that much HP back then, so I assumed the parts would be compatible for the performance, am I wrong to think that???
:confused
as for the t/a what are the slotted rear shims. do they come in kits with anything else. how much better are they really opposed to the regular ones I am going to replace them with.....an explanation of both would really get me going in the right direction.
Dave

 

[70 VETTE 454]

Sorry for the late update, but I have actually had to work at work, and I have been a little more tired than usual and didn’t feel like getting on yesterday......
well here is what happen.......
well is seemed that the rear was already drilled out, and was just stuck really really really good.
so, I got down there with my drill and all, and my light, and I could see right thru the holes, and I did not see nothing in there to drill out. then I started to wonder if maybe I had to align it with something, thru the hole, but that just seemed too odd, and I didn’t really see nothing back in there like that. so I began to rubber mallet the hell out of it, and guess, what??? they came out with no effort at all.....I see they realized my power....:L
well the were off Monday, but I then got hung up with the drivers side rear spindle bolt, which im still fighting with. but im putting the tire back on and just lowering that one side to keep it from spinning, so I can apply the power of my air gun, to get it to come off. funny thing though, the passenger side nut was barely hand tight, with the cotter pin in place of course.
thanks again guys for your help, and im still making progress.....


Dave

by the way pics to follow soon......

 

[matchframe]

Dave,

That good to hear!

Look forward to the pics!

Bill

 

[Redmanf1]

Hear is the kit that I am talking about.
This kit replaces the old steel ones that do not have the slot cut in them. You can cut the slot in the old ones but these are much nicer. It will make aliening much better and easier. I have seen where some shops bent the trailing arms to do the alignment and seen some that have almost been crushed together. It is to much trouble for them to pull the bolts all the way out to change the shims.

Rusted rear alignment shims and forward trailing arm bolts make alignment changes difficult or impossible, but without such periodic adjustments, your Corvette will experience accelerated rear tire wear and poor handling. Our 1963-82 Performance Choice Stainless Steel Trailing Arm Shim Set will not rust, will improve handling, and will make alignment much simpler. The fact that your rear tires will last longer more than pays for this kit. Contains: 24 stainless shims (in 4 sizes), 2 steel pivot bolts, 2 nuts and 4 steel cotter pins. Enough for two trailing arms. Direct replacement for stock parts.

 

[Redmanf1]

These are nice if you are going to run wide wheels and tires.

 

[Redmanf1]

Hear is the rear end cover and what they say about it. Even with stock power these things still had trouble.

Tougher than factory, this 1963-79 cast iron Rear End Cover boasts reinforced spring mount tabs and gusseted spring pad surface. Highly recommended to withstand the stress of high performance Corvette driving. Don't forget the completion kit, below.

 

[Redmanf1]

603-061 1963-82 Urethane Differential Mount Grommets (2) $9.99