I finally purchased a dial indicator and magnetic mount (Harbor Freight) and measured my runout on the fronts.  Looks to be about .009 or so on the outer edge.  Too much according to my Haynes manual (.005).  I also checked overall thickness with a set of calipers and I'm getting close to the 1.23" minimum.  Is it worth it or possible to have these turned?  If so, how do you find a good shop (no Bubba's) to do this without screwing them up?  But...I did some searching online and it looks like I can get a set of Delco fronts for about $35 apiece.  Seems like it would make more sense to just replace?  Thanks guys.

If they are close to the minimum Id go ahead and get the Delcos.  Although they are Delco, dont assume you will not have runout.  You will still have to check runout and "clock" them and/or shim them to get minimum runout.

|UPDATED|11/12/2011 5:57:39 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

I agree. For the price, it's not worth having the old ones turned, only to find they are too thin, AND the guy that did them screwed them up....so you have to buy new ones anyway.
Be sure to CLEAN the new rotors in hot soapy water, with a good stiff brush, and then blow dry them. This will get all of the metallic particles off of them, and make it easier for the pads to bed in.

Dave the shim thing really isn't that hard..use the dial indicator to find the low spot..mark the rotor at the low spot and put a shim under that spot on the wheel stud..I've used soda cans for this and it works fine..just cut a circle out of one and cut a hole in it so it goes around a wheel stud....this works to a point but it should get the run out down to where its in spec..if they end up needing fine tuned like I like them to be get them cut on the car with a pro cut machine..Google it..there's plenty of info out there on these things...the rivets are easy..drill bit size isn't that important..just go big..I think the last time I used a to 3/8 bit..cut the head off with that then used a punch to push the rest of the rivet out..don't try and drill all the way thru the rivet...its a 5 minute job no problem..and yes do it off the car on the front..kinda have to do them on the car on the rear..have fun!

|UPDATED|11/13/2011 5:46:00 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

This really isn't that bad of a job and it certainly ain't rocket science.  The rivets can be drilled out on the car or you can remove the hub and use a drill press but it is a bit easier if you remove the hub.  Either way try to be accurate with your center punch and start with an undersized bit to drill through the center of the rivet then progress to a larger bit.  once you have progressed to the larger bit and the head of the rivet has been removed and only the barrel remains in the hole you can drive the rivet out with a punch and hammer. Even though the head of the rivet is gone the barrel is swedged against the hole in the rotor and may not want to come out willingly. Once you get the hub and rotor separated you can clean up the face of the rotor before putting the new one on. 

Yep, Ive seen the tapered rotor shims online too and they are really proud of them $$.  I used regular old .002 stainless steel shim stock form a local industrial supply on mine,  and cut the shims so they approximated the radius of the outer  and inner edge of the rotor and punched a hole in the appropriate place so that the shim would fit over the lug nut stud. If you cut the shims just right you can put them on neighboring studs without overlap if you need to or cut a double one if needed.

With the rotor mounted on the car you clock the rotor  to all 5 possible positions and see if you can get runout within spec and if not, then start with the shims.  I used a felt tipped  marker to mark the end of one studs when clocking and beside each of the holes Id write the runout when that particular hole was on the marked stud.  You will have to securely bolt the rotor to the hub each time you move to a different position, use at least 2 or 3lug nuts so your readings are accurate.  Get as much runout out as you can by clocking and then start with the shims.  Mark the rotor at its lowest point and use shims to bring it up.  You may have to put the shims on more than one stud and this gets a little tedious.  Once you get the shims right you can just leave it right there with the rotor itself holding everything together or you can get industrious and bolt the rotor to the hub, its your choice but bolting insures that everything is going to stay in place.  Ive attached a link from an old post with some pics that may be helpful. The link is not showing as clickable with the new forum software for some reason so you may have to copy and paste into your browser.  Sorry for the long post but you guys know I'm long winded.

http://www.c3vr.com/vrforums/brake-rotor-rivets_message387951.html 


(inserted clickable link-aapple)



|UPDATED|11/13/2011 10:23:27 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Dave, I used colbalt bits to drill out the rivets. As was mentioned the rotors should just be replaced. The run out will need checking as was mentioned. It does take time and patience to dial everything in. The pop can shims work really well. I fortunately have a cannister of various size washers that are also different thicknesses. A guy that I knew worked at a place called Freeway Washer. He put together a major assortment of washers that were brass, steel, copper, and stainless. I find it very valuable at times. And always recheck with the rotor secured.....as was mentioned. I marked the studs with different color marking paint pens to know where I was. And you more than likely need to use more than one shim.     

I drilled out my rivets with ease - soft stuff. The replaced with deco replacements and metallic pads. Bled the brakes and they're better than new.

Thanks guys!  This is some great information and I appreciate hearing about all the tricks and procedures you all used.  I feel a lot better about this little project now.   I ordered the two Delco fronts last night from Amazon.  We recently bought an Amazon Prime membership - ended up getting free two day shipping on these cast iron beasts!  Can't beat that.  

Well I took the day off today for some chores which included some time this afternoon/evening trying to shim those rotors.  After several hours I ended up getting both (front only) to about .003-.004 runout.  Does that sound pretty good, or should I keep trying?  I used brass shim sheet from the hardware store.  It has .001, .002, .003, and .005 sizes in 3"x4" sheets.  I still have the .001 left - I probably could add in a bit of that over one or two of the studs to try to get that last little bit, but I had to walk away for awhile....