AirborneSilva

So am I understanding this right, I have to drill out these rivets, crudely circled in red, in order to remove the rotor? Thanks for the help

427Hotrod

Yep.

JIM

AirborneSilva

Thank you, any helpful hints, like use a sharp drill bit

texasbaehr

Center punch the rivet. Use a 1/8" bit and drill through the rivet. Follow with a 7/16 bit until the head spins free. Remove the disk. Try to punch out the rivet with a drift. If you cant which I could not, grind the rivet flush with the hub.
There is no need to use rivets when re-installing unless you are looking for NCRS perfection.

AirborneSilva

thanks for the how too

johnt365

I have to say I was pretty dismayed at the lack of foresight with this engineering choice. I was also surprised that in 35 years the rotors had never been removed until I got the car.

my 76 ray

If you plan on reusing the rotor, make sure you mark it so it can be put on in the exact same position relative to the spindle. Otherwise you may have runout problems. Also notice the two holes in the rotor and spindle. These are for adjusting the parking brake so even if you use a new rotor you must make sure the holes in the rotor and spindle line up.

texasbaehr

The front rotors if replaced by the dealer would have replaced the entire disk and hub as an assembly. The rears really dony wear as fast as the fronts and so not suprized they are still original. My 81 had rivited disks front and rear.
This was done at the factory to speed assembly on the line. the front hubs and rear axles were subassemblies and it was quicker slapping the assembled disk and hub on the car since the Wheels got installed almost last they didn t have to worry about the heavy rotors falling off on the line.
Made sense at the time and those engineers didn't worry about maintenance.

JimT

Once the rivets have been drilled out, you will probably have to pry the brake drum off - the parking brake shoes usually hold tight. The drum will come off

oldalaskaman

excellent tech on this thread , many thanks

donyue

Yes, the rivets are required to be drilled out. Use a center punch and cobalt drill bits, makes the job go fairly quick.

Easy Mike

Not even then. For NCRS judging purposes, the wheels are on the car. The rivets cannot be seen and are not judged.

AirborneSilva

got it off, what a pain but it's done. I also marked it so I could put it back on the same way it came off, thank you guys for the help and tips