Last night I noticed something peculiar: the aftermarket wheels I have for my FB have no indents on the inside to accommodate the drum screws, so when I tighten up the lug nuts, it balances the wheel precariously across both screws.

Apparently a previous owner didn't notice this and just tightened them down so that the screws' heads got pressed in and damaged, so I am going to have to be creative about removing those. I bet my impact driver and a nice sharp phillips bit will help.

I like the wheels and want to keep them for the car, so I need to remedy the problem. I have two approaches in my head - what do you think is best:

1. Use a dremel-like tool to grind out 4 indents on the inside of each wheel

2. Space the wheels off the hubs using washers

 

I'd get a 1/2" drill bit and drill out the offending material, just to a depth that works. A dremel isn't going to do much good.

As for the damaged screw heads, do the Ray Green approach and just grab them with a vice grip. Kidding. Use an impact screwdriver. It's the right tool.

 

I don't bother using those screws personally. Once you get them out (agree that an impact screw driver is the best method) just leave them. No need to go drilling a bunch of relief holes in your wheels...

I hope you were joking about spacing the wheels with washers....

 

I am stupid and have no sense of humor. Why do you think I ask so many stupid questions (yes there's such thing)...

Let me make sure I understand. If you take the drum retaining screws off, then the wheel studs hold the drum onto the hub, right? I've literally never looked inside a drum brake so I really only have a Wikipedia-depth understanding of what's going on in there.

Thanks fellas.

 

Yes. The screws are primarily there to hold the drums in place when the wheels are off, because drums can bind on the shoes after they've worn in if they get crooked.

Also (on SA's) it's a lot easier to do the manual shoe adjustment with the wheel off, but the drum has to stay flush to the axle end.

NEVER space a wheel off it's mounting face using washers; you can shear the lug bolts off under radial load, and die. Especially on hub-centric wheels like 1st-gens have.

 

Rx7club.com: protecting me from myself since Aug 2001.

Thanks again.

 

Here's a suggestion - as the guys stated above, those 2 screws are only there to hold everything in place while the wheels are off but you could still use the bolts in place to locate the drum properly by just grinding off the screw heads flush with the drum. This would give you 2 'studs' to ensure the brake drum is lined up properly and would also not impede the wheel mounting flush to the drum as it should.

I removed those screws many years ago and never looked back,

 

mine were stripped, and i just used a pair of channel locks to get them off, and that worked really well! .... also, rock auto sells machine head screws to replace them, as well as the old pan head style. they are cheap!

 

I see the OP said grinding "4" indents into the back of his wheels..

So are we sure he's not actually referring to the lug bolts causing the interference and not the drum screws? Of which there are only two?

I had a problem with the lug bolts interfering with a set of adapters in the same way.

I solved this by using an angle grinder and coarse grit sanding discs to sand down the head of the lug bolts until they fit behind the wheels with no interference. There is a large amount of excess metal on the top of the lug bolt head that can be removed.

 

i think he meant to be able to mount the rim no matter which way it was put on, also it would be easier to balance i suppose. could be wrong.