Knock the rivets on thru the hub. They're gonna be tight, but they should come out, at least some of the way. They don't have to come all the way, but just enough to get them out of the rotor.
Then, spray around the center of the hub, where the rotor sits, with WD40, or something similar. With a medium sized mallet/hammer, tap all around the edge of the rotor, just outboard of where the studs are(where your white mark is in the pic), to break the rotor loose from the hub.
You may also need to loosen the parking brake adjustment, if there is a ridge on the backside of the rotor where the p-brake goes. Use the holes in the front of the rotor to get to the adjusters, at the bottom of the assy. With a screwdriver, you can turn the adjusters one way, and loosen the brake, the other way tightens it.
Have patience...it will come off.

[QUOTE=Adams' Apple]Knock the rivets on thru the hub. They're gonna be tight, but they should come out, at least some of the way. They don't have to come all the way, but just enough to get them out of the rotor.
Then, spray around the center of the hub, where the rotor sits, with WD40, or something similar. With a medium sized mallet/hammer, tap all around the edge of the rotor, just outboard of where the studs are(where your white mark is in the pic), to break the rotor loose from the hub.
You may also need to loosen the parking brake adjustment, if there is a ridge on the backside of the rotor where the p-brake goes. Use the holes in the front of the rotor to get to the adjusters, at the bottom of the assy. With a screwdriver, you can turn the adjusters one way, and loosen the brake, the other way tightens it.
Have patience...it will come off.[/QUOTE]

When you say "on thru the hub" do you mean knock them into the hub itself? The idea I'm getting from your post is to take a phillips screwdriver and with a hammer pound them into the hub...then remove the pieces once i get the rotor off.   Is that what you mean?

Take a drift punch to knock them in.( a phillips screwdriver will make a mark and mushroom the end and will keep the rivets in that hole of the hub. All the rivet pins need to clear in the thickness of the flange of the rotor. The pieces will fall out after you get the rotor off. Wd40 around the center of the hub/rotor connection is a good idea. Also tap all the way around the rotor with a (rubber) dead blow hammer. Also make sure your e-brake shoe is backed off, that will keep the rotor sticking on that assembly. Another idea(hint) is make sure you can rotate the rotor/spindle/driveshaft to get to that hole to adjust the e-brake and tap on the rotor all the way around that hub/flange.
WETVET2007-12-16 09:46:03

Yeah...what HE(Steve) said...
A drift punch is gonna be the best. A screwdriver prolly ain't gonna be stout enough to do it.
If the rivets don't seem to want to budge, you may wind up drilling a little deeper into them, to get the rotor released. When the rivets are installed originally, they are pressed with a hydraulic press, which swedges the whole rivet, as well as flattens the ends. So, the part of the rivet inside the hole on the hub is also tight. It takes some serious persuasion to get them out, sometimes.

PHEW!  And I'm spent!!
Finally got the rotor off. First thing I noticed was that the top "shoe return spring" was broken and was rolling around inside the rotor. Also, the front shoe was cracked in 3 spots.  That may explain some of the noise I've been hearing.  I've got the old parts removed...and MOST of the new parts installed (got a parking brake restoration kit).   I've installed the new shoes, springs (top and bottom), and adjuster.   But I am having a hell of a time getting the rear hold back spring and cup installed onto the trapped pin.    I spent 3 hours on it tonight, cut the hell outta my hand and decided to call it a night.  I know that the article Jon posted (jbs82vette) said there was no trick to installing those darned things (and the Haynes manual is even more worthless than Michael Moore)....but does anyone here have any tips for me???  If you've done this job before and got those things on, what tools did you use??

I'm just tired of this job!!   I'm about at the point where I want to just weld the parking brake cable to the control arm and only rely on the parking brake on the passenger side.  just remove the driver's side all together!!   It's definitely "beer-o-clock" at my house right now!

I know whut ya mean aboot the one pin...PITA!!
Try this....pull it all the way thru as far as you can, then put some sillycone on it where it goes thru the backing plate, and let it sit.

I've heard of other ways to do it, but I cain't think of them rite now...

Instead of doing my desk-job today at work, I wasted ya'lls well earned tax dollars doing some research on the internet.  There was a "how to" post made on a random site that mentioned compressing the springs and tying them off with dental floss until after they were installed on the pins.  THEN, cut or burn the floss to release the springs.  I'm gonna go give that a shot.  I'll let you know how it works out. 

So ummm..that didn't work either.   What's everyone's take on cutting the flange plate and making the access hole larger? I was thinking of making it a rectangle shape to allow enough room to do the job from the front? I doubt that this would cause a ballance issue  due to it being so close to the center of rotation.  What do ya think??

 I don't think I would enlarge the hole. Not because of a balance or any weakness issues, but simply because it isn't factory. (which could mean something to you or someone else in the future) Just my two pennies.