ConcoursMustang Forums
Restoring - General discussions that span across many different groups of years and models => Processes, Products & Techniques => Topic started by: Morsel on February 01, 2018, 12:43:46 AM
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Hi all,
This was the process I used to restore my original two piece Kelsey Hayes rotors. I promised Bob I would post this with pictures ;)
1) Took many pictures of the rotors before I started to document position of the hubs on the rotors, also kept track of which hub went with which rotor through the restoring process. This is done so you don’t have to worry about the balance of the rotor once it comes time for re-assembly. Especially taking note of where the welded weight was in the fins compared to the slot cutout on the hubs.
2) Took the rotors to a machine shop and had them press out the studs while keeping the rotors and hubs and studs together as individual sets.
3) Cleaned thoroughly and soaked each piece in Evaporust for two days.
4) Blasted each piece in my blasting cabinet carefully and thoroughly, and then wiped down to remove any dust and grime from the blasting process.
5) Gun Blued the studs, heated them up very hot with a torch and then dropped them in engine oil to seal and coat and give the nice finish. Then sprayed with T9/Boeshield.
6) Taped up each rotor fully to only expose the inside of the fin area, needed to paint the inside without over painting the rest of the rotor. Painted with Eastwood Factory Grey High Temp paint. (Jeff was wondering how I was going to do this)
7) Removed the tape and painted the full rotors and hubs with three very light coats of the same Eastwood Factory Grey High Temp paint, making sure everything was coated well. Then Baked in the oven at 500 degrees for 45 mins to cure the paint. (almost forgot, after this I installed the racers in the hubs)
8) Took the hubs back to the machine shop and had them machine and clean up the surface where the wheel sits against and the vertical wall next to the wheel surface (but not all the way up). They removed as little material as possible, just to clean the surface, don’t let them take too much off.
9) Still keeping everything together for each rotor, I took the parts back to the machine shop and had the studs pressed back together in the exact same position they were original in as mentioned at the beginning for balancing purposes, made sure I was very clear to them about that.
10) after they were pressed back together, took them to a brake shop and had them turn the rotors, again, only removing the paint and to clean the surface, as little material taken off as possible.
That’s it, about 15 hours of my time and about $150 from the machine and brake shop.
Hope this helps people in the future seeing this process, I think they came out great.
Thanks,
Jason
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Nice job - thanks for sharing with everyone
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clear, concise and visuals. Excellent work!
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Very nice work.
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What blast media did you use to "clean" the rotor pieces?
Fantastic job, by the way! Thanks for sharing.
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What blast media did you use to "clean" the rotor pieces?
It was an aluminum oxide that I got from Harbor Freight, I was looking for something a little more course then I normally use because of it being cast and having so many rough edges and pits anyway. Then I set my blasting pressure at about 65PSI to avoid pounding it with too much pressure... worked well but took my time on each piece.
Jason
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Thanks again, Jason. I knew that the media had to be more aggressive than glass beads.
Again, thanks for sharing.
Frank
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Looks great.Thanks for posting.
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Excellent, glad everyone likes them... Hope this helps people in the future.
Jason
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I am in the process of restoring my KH rotors using this process. I had the studs pressed out today and removed the seals, races and bearings. Should I replace these parts with a specific brand other than what is sold at a Auto Zone or Oreilly's?
I plan on using sand to blast my KH rotors. Is sand to coarse for this job?
The OP uses a grayish color to paint his rotors. Is this the concours correct? Wouldn't it have been bare metal? If so, why not clean up the rotors really well and put a micro oil on the non-brake surfaces to protect from rusting?
Minimum Thickness: Rotors say .780 is minimum. Had mine measured at .825. Hopefully I won't need to turn them.
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I plan on using sand to blast my KH rotors. Is sand to coarse for this job?
The OP uses a grayish color to paint his rotors. Is this the concours correct? Wouldn't it have been bare metal? If so, why not clean up the rotors really well and put a micro oil on the non-brake surfaces to protect from rusting?
i would not blast. soak in evapo-rust.
bare metal is correct. no paint ever from the factory on these rotors.
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I am in the process of restoring my KH rotors using this process. I had the studs pressed out today and removed the seals, races and bearings. Should I replace these parts with a specific brand other than what is sold at a Auto Zone or Oreilly's?
I plan on using sand to blast my KH rotors. Is sand to coarse for this job?
The OP uses a grayish color to paint his rotors. Is this the concours correct? Wouldn't it have been bare metal? If so, why not clean up the rotors really well and put a micro oil on the non-brake surfaces to protect from rusting?
I would not blast the rotor surface with anything. Just the outside edges and the non surfaced center. Protect the machined surfaces . Once you press the studs back in you will need to have the rotors turned (term used for surface milled for flatness) . That process will clean the machined pad surface area up just fine . I hope you marked the rotor so that you can put the same rotor hub clocked in the same position in relation to the rotor hat. They are balanced at the factory . It doesn't ruin things if you didn't but you may have a little vibration because of it. Yes, bare metal on everything . Many times the rough cast areas will be painted with a high heat cast iron paint for rust preventive maintenance reasons that appears close to factory .You would still need to go over the cast painted surfaces with a rust inhibitor like Boe Shield for added protection . Given the small visual surface area it is fairly easy to pull off a reasonable look IMO . If the car is show duty only with little or no pleasure driving definitely do not paint. If on the other hand you plan to do pleasure driving then paint in those hard to get at areas along with the added protection of the boe shield is a maintenance friendly alternative in this particular area only IMO. You do have to be careful with any petroleum based products around the machined brake pad surface areas. A little oil on a pad ruins it for it's intended purpose. On the pad surface if it flash rusts the rust will disappear the first time you hit the brakes. The other areas not making contact with the brake pads not so much. Just some of my thoughts on the subject. Others may have different.
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If the car is intended to be driven, then I would recommend a cast iron appearance coating used on the rough-cast areas of the rotors.
As Bob mentioned, they will need to be turned no matter what.
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Also, do not sandblast any parts, it will totally ruin the surface and open up the metal pores. Use glass bead or comparable. Just be careful of media with free silicas.
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I decided to blast after 2 days of evaporust on all the parts because of what I was still seeing on the surfaces. I knew I was going to turn both the wheel contact surface and the rotors themselves so I didn't care about hitting them with media. I also was originally going to lightly gun blue the surfaces rather then painting, but in the end, with my car being driven, and wanting an original look, I decided to paint for a longer protection on the rotors. I did research and talked with Bob and Jeff about a good match for paint and we came up with the Eastwood factory grey high temp paint as a pretty good match to the look of original rotors. When I was done I was surprised how close it looked and turned out.
Anyway, it really is what you are trying to do and want in the end.
Good luck,
Jason
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I am in the process of restoring my KH rotors using this process. I had the studs pressed out today and removed the seals, races and bearings. Should I replace these parts with a specific brand other than what is sold at a Auto Zone or Oreilly's?
I plan on using sand to blast my KH rotors. Is sand to coarse for this job?
The OP uses a grayish color to paint his rotors. Is this the concours correct? Wouldn't it have been bare metal? If so, why not clean up the rotors really well and put a micro oil on the non-brake surfaces to protect from rusting?
Minimum Thickness: Rotors say .780 is minimum. Had mine measured at .825. Hopefully I won't need to turn them.
FWIW, it looks like you have the typically found service replacement rotors (not the original K/H rotors). I do not see the "tells" in your images, that they are originals. Yes, they are the 2-piece variety so that is good.
I say this because given that fact alone, it would almost seem better (in my opinion) to go ahead and paint them for protection (if you plan to drive the car) since they do not pass muster for a concours level or thoroughbred anyways. Again, just my take on what I see. Others may have different perspective than I do. Paint is usually easier to remove than rust if you ever wish to return to original cast at a later date or work the car towards a more detailed class in judging.
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FWIW, it looks like you have the typically found service replacement rotors (not the original K/H rotors). I do not see the "tells" in your images, that they are originals. Yes, they are the 2-piece variety so that is good.
I say this because given that fact alone, it would almost seem better (in my opinion) to go ahead and paint them for protection (if you plan to drive the car) since they do not pass muster for a concours level or thoroughbred anyways. Again, just my take on what I see. Others may have different perspective than I do. Paint is usually easier to remove than rust if you ever wish to return to original cast at a later date or work the car towards a more detailed class in judging.
I will have to disagree. The two piece design will typically pass muster in trailered concours if refinished and detailed properly. Thoroughbred no ,trailered concours yes IMO. The 2 piece design is what is mainly visible underneath and consequently what is used as a yardstick compared to the one piece replacement. Other details if observed that don't compare to assemblyline may warrant a mention . At least that is my opinion.
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Agree with Bob. In concours, I'd be looking for a 2 piece rotor for authenticity and then checking condition/cleanliness. For Thoroughbred, they would need to be assembly line with correct flues, machined and bare metal finishes.
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Apologies for misinformation. I am surprised this detail is allowable when other similar details are scrutinized. My "default setting" must be more or less 'Thoroughbred' at this site and my opinions seem to be higher than what judging requires on the different (MCA) classes. My point was along the lines of painting verses not painting surfaces in relation to how it appears, as compared to assemblyline items. I like the protection of paint but personally much more impressed with the finer details of maintaining the original finishes. Again...apologies.
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No apologies needed, it's always better to set your standards higher than any judging rules.
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Apologies for misinformation. I am surprised this detail is allowable when other similar details are scrutinized. My "default setting" must be more or less 'Thoroughbred' at this site and my opinions seem to be higher than what judging requires on the different (MCA) classes. .............
Yes that is always an issue with just focusing on judging since different people will place different values on different details and why we normally keep those discussions in a different section of the site. Much easier to focus on how the cars were built IMHO - makes the answers easier since there is a better defined measuring tool than to try and hit what at some times seems like a moving target. Judges and just observers of your finished product should have an issue with as the car was built ;) Don't want to get too far in the weeds on judging practices, tendencies, human nature, and so on and get off point in this thread
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I plan on using sand to blast my KH rotors. Is sand to coarse for this job?
Healthwise, sand is the worst thing to use.
Breathing crystalline silica ranks right up there with asbestos.
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Also, do not sandblast any parts, it will totally ruin the surface and open up the metal pores. Use glass bead or comparable. Just be careful of media with free silicas.
Charles: Can you elaborate on the risk from sandblasting? Are you talking about the surface of the rotor in particular? And would you have any concerns about sandblasting if they’re going to be turned anyway? Thanks.
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Apologies for misinformation. I am surprised this detail is allowable when other similar details are scrutinized. My "default setting" must be more or less 'Thoroughbred' at this site and my opinions seem to be higher than what judging requires on the different (MCA) classes. My point was along the lines of painting verses not painting surfaces in relation to how it appears, as compared to assemblyline items. I like the protection of paint but personally much more impressed with the finer details of maintaining the original finishes. Again...apologies.
Richard -- I agree with you, but as stated, it's a personal decision as how far down the thouroughbred trail you go.
I've decided to go down the trail of all original finishes as well, but it adds a lot of time, is more difficult to do and is much harder to maintain -- especially if driven.
I think it's important that the differences be discussed.
Either way, nice job.