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Hi everyone, finally made an account to post on here, been finding a lot of info from decade+ old posts.
I have an '84 GSL that's been sitting for a long time and I need some help replacing its rusty old rotors as part of its road to recovery.
I started with the rear and currently have the wheel off, caliper off the rotor, pads tossed aside, and the three nuts holding the shield-looking piece behind the rotor off (probably not necessary?). I've tried giving the rotor a big ol' tug and wailed on it from behind a good deal before I figured I should ask if I've missed any hardware (probably should have checked first, haha).
So, any hardware I've missed? And if not, any tips for getting a stubborn rotor off? And if you have any suggestions for what else I should change out while the rotor's off, hit me with those too.
I couldn't dig up an FB-specific, rear-rotor specific walkthrough, so my apologies if this has been asked and answered before.
Oh and in case it's relevant, here's the part I'm putting back in its place. Yes, it's a cheap rotor, I know; this baby will be doing nothing but street cruising for at least a couple years, and everything will be getting a major upgrade when its duty changes.
Make sure there isn’t a screw that is holding the rotor in place on to the hub behind it. If there was one it will be inbetween lugs. Other than that if you have everything else off just use a ton of penetrating grease and brute force, It could just be siezed to the hub itself.
I had a similar problem on my FC. The front rotors were seized to the aluminum hubs (though I believe the rears are steel, so it's likely just rust and not a galvanic reaction in your case). One of them was so bad that it had to be pressed out with a hydraulic press, the other was just stubborn. I eventually found that heating it with a propane torch, spraying penetrating oil on it, and then hitting the part of the rotor between the lugs (the part that contacts the wheel) loosened it enough to bang it out from behind with a big mallet.
Be careful heating it if you choose to do so, it can cook the wheel bearing grease.
Thanks for the input, everyone. I'm pretty sure at this point it really is just seized up that badly. I found a video that suggested using bolts, nuts, an open wrench, and a ratchet to screw it in through the nuts' threading and push the rotor off. One of those "why didn't I think of that" kinda solutions. I'll try it out after work, and if I'm successful, I'll be sure to link the video. And post gore shots of how horrible the rust is on that rotor.
So my brake rotors was indeed just seized up like crazy. Using a bolt and nut to force it off slow worked out great (plus a little more percussive persuasion); I found that using 3/8"x1" bolts and corresponding nuts and washers fit pretty perfectly into the hole where the caliper mounts, without scraping or wobbling in there.
Hrmm for some reason my post never went through. Anyways, the trick worked! I used 3/8"x1" bolts, and the 3/8" washers and nuts. That was about the perfect size to not gouge out the caliper mounting holes but not wobble around much either.
Here's the video that gave me the idea, as simple an idea it is:
09-10-18, 09:16 PM
