Enlarging Brake Rotor Centerbore

[hbabler]

Okay maybe you guys can help me with this. I am located North of Dallas and I am having trouble finding someone to do this work.

I have a 48 Hudson Coupe that I am doing a Scarebird disc conversion on.

To complete the project I need someone to enlarge the center of a set of brake rotors. I thought it would be pretty simple but I am having trouble finding someone who can do it for me.

It shouldn’t need very much taken off but is there something I am missing as to how hard this is? The rotor is about 10 inches so could that be the issue? Or is it just because it is a small job? Any ideas?

 

[astroracer]

Any brake shop with a brake lathe can do this for you. Stop at an AAMCO or any mom and pop shop that does brake repair. Should be pretty cheap as well, this is a simple job.
Take the hubs in with you when you go.
Mark

 

[bri_man57]

Not exactly related to your question, but if you have room, might be worth turning the axle side down instead so next time you need rotors you can just go get the same set without having to machine them everytime. This is what I did on my 9"in the off-road truck so I could have off the shelf rotors.

Good luck!

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[glend123]

Its a simple machining job, but a potentially complex liability job?

 

[APEowner]

I suspect you've got two things working against you. One is that it's a small job and a bunch of shops aren't going to want to mess with it and the other is that it's for brakes and it's not worth the potential liability.

You need a small general machine shop or even better a local car guy with a milling machine. The job itself is pretty simple. Do you have a spec for the bore or do you need someone to measure the hub as well?

 

[APEowner]

Any brake shop with a brake lathe can do this for you. Stop at an AAMCO or any mom and pop shop that does brake repair. Should be pretty cheap as well, this is a simple job.
Take the hubs in with you when you go.
Mark

Unless there's a newer brake lathe design that I'm not familiar with (which certainly could be the case) This can't be done on a brake lathe. All the brake lathes I've used hold the rotor buy the hole that needs to be enlarged.

 

[APEowner]

Not exactly related to your question, but if you have room, might be worth turning the axle side down instead so next time you need rotors you can just go get the same set without having to machine them everytime. This is what I did on my 9"in the off-road truck so I could have off the shelf rotors.

Good luck!

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That's an interesting idea. Turn the hubs instead of the rotors. It doesn't solve the immediate issue of getting someone to do the work but assuming there's enough material it would make is so that it only needs to be done once.

 

[bri_man57]

That's an interesting idea. Turn the hubs instead of the rotors. It doesn't solve the immediate issue of getting someone to do the work but assuming there's enough material it would make is so that it only needs to be done once.

Exactly! Unless you break an axle lol.

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[hbabler]

Hmm. I like the idea of turning the hubs. It shouldn’t be a problem as they are pretty thick. I can measure them so I’ll figure out what I need them turned to.

I’ll keep on looking for a small machine shop. I didn’t think of the liability issue and that may be the issue. Thanks for the thoughts

 

[bradpac]

I had a local machine shop do some wheels for me a while back. In Dallas you should have little trouble finding someone that can machine it.

 

[The Cobbler]

simple job, count on a few hundred $$$ to allow for setup etc. the machining the hub is a good idea
Liability is an issue , tell them its for an offroad wagon or something.
A hobbyist machinist would be my first try. If you were closer I would offer to do it for you .

 

[darkzero]

Unless there's a newer brake lathe design that I'm not familiar with (which certainly could be the case) This can't be done on a brake lathe. All the brake lathes I've used hold the rotor buy the hole that needs to be enlarged.

My thoughts exactly. The only brake lathe I've ever ran was an Ammco but all the others that I have seen in those days were setup the same, uses the center bore of the rotor for centerig & holding.

A hobbyist machinist would be my first try.

Yup, gotta make friends with a hobby machinist. I never could so I became a hobby machinist myself although I don't consider myself a machinist. I could easily do that with my 12x home hobby lathe & it would be a simple job.

I turned down these alum spacers for a buddy last year to match the dia. of the rotor hubs, no charge. Boring out the holes on rotors would be quicker than these spacer. Except the clean up though, I hate machining cast iron.

 

[joe_padavano]

I had to get a set of rotors machined for a similar reason. I had my local automotive machine shop do it (where I get my blocks and heads done). They had no problems.

 

[gorilla]

It looks like the road wheels will no longer be centered by the hub due to the thickness of the brake rotors. If the brake rotor and wheels are centered by the lug bolts you could open the bore of the rotors with a grinder. It would be more difficult to modify the hubs than the rotors not much to hold on to.