New rotors installed -- What a PITA!

[Tjn182]

That little retaining screw is one pain in the neck!!! I had the car in the air -- soaking with PB Blaster -- ready to get those old rotors off. It took me over 1 1/2 hours to get the front driver's side rotor off! The retaining screw stripped pretty darn quickly and I ended up having to drill it out... that took forever. The passanger side screw also stripped so I had to drill that out as well! Fortunetly both of the rear screws came out fairly easy and so the rear only took me about 15 minutes.
I took the new rotors for a spin and WOW! The braking is much more solid than before! The horrifying shimmy in the front end disappeared too. When I slammed on those brakes -- The front end went down, the rear end went up -- and nothing shook!

Hopefully everything works out well! I'm still afraid my entire wheel and brake assembly is going to fall off my front end without those retaining screws!

I also installed the Powerdyne FMU i picked up in Raleigh. The second I hooked it up and turned on the car it started spewing gasoline. Nate from Raleigh told me that it leaked and was 'broken' so I took it apart to find out. Turns out there were 4 screws that held the 2 halves of the FMU together, all 4 screws were hand tight... so there was no real seal made. I tightened those up and put the FMU back on. I set it on maximum richness and took her for a spin. There is not much difference in the performance, but now I know I'm not running lean at 10psi.

-Tj

[Darkness]

Hey that's encouraging I'm doing my fronts in about a week or so...:-)

After soaking them did you give em a good whack before attempting to undo them?

[Mark 88/M5 Houston]

What tool were you using to try to get the screws out?

[Guest]

This inexpensive tool is what you need to get the rotor screws out without stripping them. I've owned one of these hammer driven impacts for over 30 Years. Yup, I'm freakin OLD !!!

Rich

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product. ... 0947641000

[fastpat]

[QUOTE="Rich Euro M5"]

This inexpensive tool is what you need to get the rotor screws out without stripping them. I've owned one of these hammer driven impacts for over 30 Years. Yup, I'm freakin OLD !!!

Rich

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product. ... 0947641000 [/QUOTE]

Yep, I bought my first one while still in Japan in 1968, those little Phillips head screws on my motorcycle were notoriously prone to stripping because they self tightened in the aluminum housings and so forth.

Harbor Freight has them as does Sears and most hardware and tool stores.



[Edit by fastpat on [TIME]1108257784[/TIME]]

[Blue Shadow]

Tjn182 , I am so glad I have found out how to block avatars. I just don't care for ones that move that much. NBD.

You need sharper drill bits. Drilling out a rotor retaining screw should not take more than 5 minutes. there is already a starter hole in it. Ain't new rotor all around sweet?!

[fastpat]

[QUOTE="Blue Shadow"]Tjn182 , I am so glad I have found out how to block avatars. I just don't care for ones that move that much. NBD.

You need sharper drill bits. Drilling out a rotor retaining screw should not take more than 5 minutes. there is already a starter hole in it. Ain't new rotor all around sweet?![/QUOTE]

What's this "Shadowy Hartge" rating?

[Marshall]

Heating the retaining screw until it is @ a different temp than the surrounding metal surfaces ( hub and rotor ) and then allowing the screw and surrounding area to cool to the point that PB Blaster will be drawn around the screw speeds the whole process. The area has cooled sufficiently when the PB Blaster does not vaporize upon contact with the heated area, remember that cooled DOES NOT mean cool, don't touch if you value your fingerprints! At this point, the impact driver is the best to use to remove the screw, although most of the time after using the heat, a non-impact tool will work as well.

This method works on all rusted fasteners of any size, only the amount (btu's) of heat, type of torch, size of removal tool and time vary.

[Tjn182]

Tjn182 , I am so glad I have found out how to block avatars. I just don't care for ones that move that much. NBD.
You need sharper drill bits. Drilling out a rotor retaining screw should not take more than 5 minutes. there is already a starter hole in it. Ain't new rotor all around sweet?!

Yeah -- Well the first stripped screw I attempted to take a chisle and hammer and try to work it around... by the time I did that I didn't have much of a screw left. But yeah... the second time I drilled it took me only a few minutes.

You don't like my beavis and butthead avatar?!!? :p

[Bob in San Jose]

TJ,
Beavis and Butthead are fine, it's the frantic movement that is killing me.
Blue Shadow, how did you kill the animation.

Bob

[rodpaine]

Don't forget to use an Anti-Seize product on the hub retaining screw when reassembling everything, to insure that there are no problems again in the future. Loctite Copper or Silver lube works well. Wash the screw and hub threads with Acetone, prior to applying the lube. I've never had further problems with hub screws on mine or other's cars over the past 20 years, using this technique.
-Rod

[Blue Shadow]

"TJ,
Beavis and Butthead are fine, it's the frantic movement that is killing me.
Blue Shadow, how did you kill the animation.

Bob "

I'm with you on this one, Bob. Movement!! is very distracting on this board.

Right click the avatar and select Block Images from..., you will lose all the stuff from that site but if you need it you can get it back, same way.

[Tjn182]

Fine I put my avatar back to my boring old Kitty Cat eater

[fastpat]

Here's a nice North Carolina flag for you, TJ.

[Mike in Louisville]

TJ, make sure you break in the new equipment properly. There are many articles online, here's one from Stoptech: http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/bedintheory.htm. I've never not broken in pads or rotors, so I can't say I've experienced any ill effects, I just like to play it safe. I'm glad you got the install done, my rotor screws were very stubborn as well.