76 Rotor Replacement

[Steve B.]

The rotors on my 1976 coupe are worn down pretty good, especially the right rear. I have a book, Motorbooks Workshop - "Corvette Performance Projects 1968-1982". The section on rotor replacement indicates it should be rather simple, only 1 1/2 stars, heck placing the car on jack stands is 1 star. Looking at the procedure it does look straight forward, however, looks can be deceiving... especially with the rear rotors and the internal parking brakes.

With the help of some friends I pulled and rebuilt the engine several years ago so I guess I would rate myself a fair mechanic. Is this a job that I should be able to perform myself and if so can anyone offer any advice up front to help avoid problems, and can anyone offer advice on rotor/part replacements (e.g. slotted vs. non-slotted rotors).

Thanks in advance...

Steve Boyd

[Michael W.]

Re: 76 Rotor Replacement

If this job rates as a 1.5 stars in the book you mention, I suppose a frame off would rate 2 stars.

It's unusual for a C2/C3 rotor to need replacement unless there's been a malfunction that's caused surface damage or aggressive pads have machined the surface away.

The slotted/drilled rotors do well with the gold chain 'bling' crowd but are of no benefit on a street driven car.

If you are convinced that the rotors do need replacement, be aware that measuring and correcting rotor surface runout on the new piece is essential. The proper method of achieving this is by machining the rotor surfaces after mounting it on the spindle. Obviously specialised equipment is required to perform this.

If your rear wheel bearings or parking brake ass'y have not be serviced recently, this would be an ideal time to do this.

You may as well just have the complete trailing arms overhauled at this point.............

[Joe L.]

Re: 76 Rotor Replacement

The rotors on my 1976 coupe are worn down pretty good, especially the right rear. I have a book, Motorbooks Workshop - "Corvette Performance Projects 1968-1982". The section on rotor replacement indicates it should be rather simple, only 1 1/2 stars, heck placing the car on jack stands is 1 star. Looking at the procedure it does look straight forward, however, looks can be deceiving... especially with the rear rotors and the internal parking brakes.

With the help of some friends I pulled and rebuilt the engine several years ago so I guess I would rate myself a fair mechanic. Is this a job that I should be able to perform myself and if so can anyone offer any advice up front to help avoid problems, and can anyone offer advice on rotor/part replacements (e.g. slotted vs. non-slotted rotors).

Thanks in advance...

Steve Boyd

Steve-----


In it's "simplest form" replacing the rear rotors is easy. Just remove the caliper, drill out the rivets (assuming they're still there), pull off the rotors, and put the new ones on. In practice, as Mike mentions, it's not that easy.

The big problem comes in because the original spindles often have excessive runout on the spindle flange which was "corrected" by the factory finish-machining the rotor surfaces with the spindle rivitted to the rotor. If you replace a rotor, the benefit of that original machining is lost.

If you want to do it yourself, you can replace the rotors as I described above. Then, with lug nuts installed backwards and retaining the rotor to the spindle, measure the runout on the rotor. If it exceeds .005" TIR, you have a problem. If it doesn't, you're in luck and you're done.

If you have a problem, which is likely, correcting it is a BIG problem, as Mike described.

[Steve B.]

Re: 76 Rotor Replacement

Michael/Joe:

After listening to your advice and reading several posts from the archives I believe I may let the professionals handle this job, at least the rear rotors. I live a little less than 3 hours from Bair's in Linesville, PA. From the posts I've read they seem to come highly recommended. The front rotors are not as bad and it seems they would be easier to tackle personally if and when needed.

I appreciate you both taking the time to reply... it is greatly appreciated.

Steve

[Jim T.]

Re: 76 Rotor Replacement

The front rotors are rivetted to the hub, but so much easier to remove and send/take to Bairs if they have to be replaced. Living only a few hours from Bair's you could take your car and let them service the rear wheel bearings and check/replace any rotor. For on the road carefree worries of bearing failure/brake problems for a very long time, the trip to Bair's is the best idea. If you can spend some time at their facility, you will learn a lot on how a correct set up control arm functions and how much work is involved.