Me? What would I do? Well heck, I would do it a few different ways.
Starting from better to worst, maybe....
A 1/16" is not much. But I would still use a plate to center the disc in the caliper.
I would use some Blanchard ground plates. Have some plates laser cut, then Blanchard ground for flatness. And I know. It sounds expensive. But its not. Its a simple machine shop job. A full service machine shop should be able to give you those for 60 bucks. They may farm it out, thats not uncommon. Its unfortunate you dont have some shops in town.
Next in line would be to cut my own from polished stainless steel sheet. I find the polished stainess has a more uniform thickness throughout its area. But its gonna take some tools. A plasma cutter at a minimum. The stuff is very tough, it eats cutters .
Next would be to use cold rolled steel and cut the plates out. Cold rolled steel has a decent uniformity and is easy to work with. A jigsaw and a hand held drill will produce some very nice plates..
Next. I dont know why the guys say not to use washers, but I would. If I could not get the plates made. Why would I use washers? Well in my hay day I would do anything that made it work. And I still do. If folks are uncomfortable with that then they sure as heck shouldn't be riding in my car.
Washers, or to be more acurate, round shims that are ground and flat should work just fine. Id like to learn why they wouldnt. Other than the thought of placing washer in the system. Allot of brake companies supply washers with the kits they sell. They call them spacers. Makes it sound not so hardware store.
So Im thinking the issue with using spacers that are only an inch in diameter might be because the entire rotor mounting surface is not in contact with the hub? Why is this a problem? For fear of the rotor hub flexing? Its cast iron if its a one piece rotor. Cast iron doesnt flex. Well the hub of the rotor doesnt anyway. So is the strain on the cast iron rotor hub gonna be so severe to crack the rotor hub? I dont think so, just my opinion.
I try to do the very best I can when it comes to the car, or anything. When I cant do what I think is the best I look for the next best solution. And I keep whittling the options down till I find one that works for me in terms of doability and cost.
What I would do if I were you? I would buy the stock car spacers you found and drill them for the pattern you need. It will be somewhat ugly with the holes. But you will fully support the rotor and its something you can get done at home. Might have to get a drill. And I would over drill the holes a little. Make sure to de-burr the holes. An over sized drill bit will work, a counter sink will work too. Dont over counter sink the holes, you will leave a pointed ID point. Just break the burr. And run a bastard file over the plate just to make sure all the high spots from the drilling are removed.
Soooo many ways of doing anything. There are popular, "correct" methods. But sometimes you just need to get the job done. Im from the school of getting it done, doing whatever it takes to get the dreams on the road. Hell, in the 50s and 60s there were folks driving their cars with coat hangers for throttle cables. Sure, alot of folks died in car accidents. But Im sure there were many more that had fun driving their hotrods down the road.
On that note, I have to bend up a coat hanger for my shifter. LOL See you on the otherside!!! JR
Me? What would I do? Well heck, I would do it a few different ways.
Starting from better to worst, maybe....
A 1/16" is not much. But I would still use a plate to center the disc in the caliper.
I would use some Blanchard ground plates. Have some plates laser cut, then Blanchard ground for flatness. And I know. It sounds expensive. But its not. Its a simple machine shop job. A full service machine shop should be able to give you those for 60 bucks. They may farm it out, thats not uncommon. Its unfortunate you dont have some shops in town.
Next in line would be to cut my own from polished stainless steel sheet. I find the polished stainess has a more uniform thickness throughout its area. But its gonna take some tools. A plasma cutter at a minimum. The stuff is very tough, it eats cutters .
Next would be to use cold rolled steel and cut the plates out. Cold rolled steel has a decent uniformity and is easy to work with. A jigsaw and a hand held drill will produce some very nice plates..
Next. I dont know why the guys say not to use washers, but I would. If I could not get the plates made. Why would I use washers? Well in my hay day I would do anything that made it work. And I still do. If folks are uncomfortable with that then they sure as heck shouldn't be riding in my car.
Washers, or to be more acurate, round shims that are ground and flat should work just fine. Id like to learn why they wouldnt. Other than the thought of placing washer in the system. Allot of brake companies supply washers with the kits they sell. They call them spacers. Makes it sound not so hardware store.
So Im thinking the issue with using spacers that are only an inch in diameter might be because the entire rotor mounting surface is not in contact with the hub? Why is this a problem? For fear of the rotor hub flexing? Its cast iron if its a one piece rotor. Cast iron doesnt flex. Well the hub of the rotor doesnt anyway. So is the strain on the cast iron rotor hub gonna be so severe to crack the rotor hub? I dont think so, just my opinion.
I try to do the very best I can when it comes to the car, or anything. When I cant do what I think is the best I look for the next best solution. And I keep whittling the options down till I find one that works for me in terms of doability and cost.
What I would do if I were you? I would buy the stock car spacers you found and drill them for the pattern you need. It will be somewhat ugly with the holes. But you will fully support the rotor and its something you can get done at home. Might have to get a drill. And I would over drill the holes a little. Make sure to de-burr the holes. An over sized drill bit will work, a counter sink will work too. Dont over counter sink the holes, you will leave a pointed ID point. Just break the burr. And run a bastard file over the plate just to make sure all the high spots from the drilling are removed.
Soooo many ways of doing anything. There are popular, "correct" methods. But sometimes you just need to get the job done. Im from the school of getting it done, doing whatever it takes to get the dreams on the road. Hell, in the 50s and 60s there were folks driving their cars with coat hangers for throttle cables. Sure, alot of folks died in car accidents. But Im sure there were many more that had fun driving their hotrods down the road.
On that note, I have to bend up a coat hanger for my shifter. LOL See you on the otherside!!! JR
I appreciate the comments on using washers. I got really disgusted at the problem last week and almost used washers. I bought 3/8" washers at the hardware store, got them home only to realize that M12 is just slightly bigger than 3/8" so they didn't fit and I didn't have time to go back to the hardware store before it closed. Maybe I'll just run back out there and buy M12 washers (they're only .30 cents each). I really don't fear the rotor flexing - in fact, I hadn't even thought about that being a problem (and still really don't consider it a problem). My only fear was snapping the lug bolts off due to not having the wheel flange flat against the rotor. Maybe I'll do the washers for now, buy the 1/16" spacers and install them in week or two. I sure won't be drag racing or otherwise anytime soon.
Thanks for all the input. I'm off to the hardware store.
I got the driver's side done this morning. I decided to take it all apart and reassemble it with NO spacers to see just exactly what the clearance issue was. Finally having time to really look it over helped me figure out the best solution. I got the Dremel out and was able to remove a small amount of material to get enough clearance (about 1/16" that I was looking for with the spacer). The abutment bracket ended up being thick enough that I don't think this will cause any issues. I was able to completely reassemble the driver's side with the new parts finally (including new braided brake lines).
I got the passenger side apart and was able to see I have even less clearance on that side. Hopefully I can finish it up later since I'm tied up on something else this afternoon.
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
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