Hello All.

Well, I have been looking forward to this project.  I have most all the tools I think I'll need.  (That statement is almost always followed to a trip to Harbor Freight.)  The garage is built and lighted. A reasonably nice and warm day in the desert for December  68*.  It is my first brake job and also the first brake job for my Baby 82. 

I have read most everything I can find on the subject and have the correct parts and replacement flex lines ready to install.  I went with ACDelco and locally available flexible replacement lines.  While I'm doing the front breaks I'm also replacing the bearings and seal.  That is also a first time thing for me.

I have the wheels off and the hub off the axle and have proceeded to drill out the rivets that were factory installed to hold the rotor on the hub.  The heads have drilled off pretty much on both sides. The problem is the rivets won't come out.  I have resisted banging directly on them with a hammer.  I don't have a grinding wheel but, think that may be my only choice.  First I have been soaking these and the other wheel rivets for the past few days.  Still, nothing budging. I am next going to drill all the way through the rivets with a small drill bit.  That may allow some give after the heating of the drilling process.   

Any other ideas?   Thanks,

Keith

Fun in the Sun...

Ok...

The drilling and enlarging the hole in the rivets worked pretty well.  I can see where this would be a lot easier with a drill press.  I kept going up to a larger bit until about 80% of the rivet was drilled out.  Then I was able to loosen the rivet and remove it using a punch and hammer.  Unfortunately,  I was off center on a couple of the rivets so the drilling went into the hub as well.   It is not pretty but,  the passenger side will go a little smoother knowing what I know now.

This would have not gone this well if I tried to do this with the hub still on the axle.

Still having fun...

Keith


|UPDATED|12/17/2011 12:51:43 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Sounds like this job is going easy for you..were you planning on doing anything with the calipers?? Glad that the garage is getting broken in.

Sounds like you are making good progress.  

Unless you are replacing the rotors, there's really no need to remove them from the hubs. Saves you a ton of time by not having to mess with the rivets.
Also, when the rivets are "set", they swell into the holes, which is what makes them a little tough to get out. They are installed from the rear, and then a huge press mashes them flat. Once you drill the head off of the front side, the body of the rivet is still swedged in the hole. The thing to do is simply drill the heads enough until you can remove the rotor from the hub...and leave the rivet in place. Then, if you must, you can press the body of the rivet on thru the hub.

Thanks for the info. 

   I am replacing both front rotors and both front calipers and the flex hoses and while I'm at it the inside and outside bearings and seal. I'm staying with DoT3 fluid and the master cylinder was replaced when I bought the car 8 years ago.  The driver's side caliper had one side frozen so one side of the rotor was almost gone.

   Today, I got the bearings, new rotor, caliper and line installed on the driver's side.  I have the passenger's side hub off but, have not drilled out the rivets.  That will be tomorrow's job, if I don't get called into work. I'll be a lot more concerned with getting the pilot holes drilled in the center of the rivets.  Once I got the pilot holes drilled all the way through the rivets stepping up the bit size went pretty well.  What was left was easily pounded in with a cold chisel and popped out with a pair of pliers.  I did pre loaded a little brake fluid in the calipers but, not enough to squirt out the flex line that I put on before installing the caliper. 

Oddly enough, the only repair I remember my dad doing was replacing a wheel bearing on an old Triumph station wagon he used on the flight line.  I vividly remember the grease in the palm and the motion of packing the bearings.  I never got to see him work on the old radial engines. He had stories of fixing B-29 engines. Those were big radial engines. 

So far.... so good.  Still having some fun.

Keith


|UPDATED|12/17/2011 7:33:45 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Love it!! Glad to hear you have memories of your dad like that..couldn't imagine working on a B-29!!..little more to go and you'll be stirring up that dust out there again!! Keep having fun.

I used an air chisel with a tapered punch bit on the shank of the rivet and walked them right out. 

|UPDATED|12/18/2011 6:36:06 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Thanks Lukester. 

I have not added any air tools except the lugnut on/off driver.  I'll have to make one more trip to HF this year.  It is about 25 miles from here on the East side of town.  I'd really like an air driven jack.  The floor jack motion is just the movement that sets off my back troubles.

Yeah.  In early 1941 the army went to Spartanburg Airport and grabbed the two aircraft mechanics there. My dad was one of them.  He was too old for the draft.   They took them home and convinced them it was a good idea to join the military. They made him a 3 stripe SGT out of basic. Then he was sent to Casey Jones school of Aeronautics and pipe-lined as an instructor for two years.   He did not talk about this stuff until he retired from the Air Force with 30 years of service.

We'll see how the passenger side goes today.  It is very nice not to be rolling around on the desert floor. 

Trying to have fun in the sun...


Keith

I forgot to mention.  After getting the rivets out and the old bearing sleves out.  I put the new bearing sleves in the freezer for a couple of hours and heated up the cleaned hub in my grill for 20 mins.  I could hear the sizzle on the wet rags as I carried it back to the garage.  Only took a few minutes to seat the sleves in the hubs.  This trick was worth the effort.

Being somewhat amused in the sun....and rain.


Keith