turning brake drums, surface flywheel-amazed!

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barbee6043

barbee6043

barbee 6043
FABO Gold Member
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Shepherd, Texas ( SE Tx)
OK so I spent the last 40 yrs in Missouri, Getting any type of machine work was NO problem. Local O Reilly, NAPA, anywhere. Here in Texas finding anyone that does this is next to impossible. And NO I will not drive into Houston the hell hole of Texas to get such done! I know, I am a dineauuseaur ( OK so I do not have spell check!).. I know just buy NEW!!!!!!!! Right!
I am totally amazed at how this part of the country is so INADEQUATE! Everyone is paid royally, just trying to do simple things is a daily pain. Companies take off the entire week for opening gun season, back in Mo., any idiot could get his over the weekend!!! LOL
Rant over!!
 
Same here in Michigan, good luck finding someone to turn rotors and drums! 65'
 
I just had my wife's Toyota's rotors turned at O Reilly's here in Amarillo. 15 bucks for each rotor.
 
Yes it is getting tough to find places to get good machine work done and it is costly. That's why it's a throw it away country now.
 
We have an old Ammco brake lathe at the shop that has the knives and adapters to turn a flywheel.
I don't know how it's done, but I've seen it work.
I'm willing to bet it hasn't been used in 20 years, but it's all there.
 
I have my own Ammco drum/ disc lathe, "it ain't perfect." The local NAPA removed their machine shop, I've no idea where to get work done, anymore.
 
bummer , i just take mine into work with me and Chuck them up in the ginormous le blonde lathe and turn them myself
 
Found a shop in Huntsville 65 miles West! Might be one in Livingston 25 mi North. I am sure there are shops in Houston (60 mi), BUT you can not hardly make me go into Houston except maybe a weekend. Never had this problem in Missouri, it is not as "prosperous" as Texas and people just did not toss everything.
Every year seems like working on these old cars gets harder and harder, and more expensive. If you try to sell one, then ......lol
And don't get me started on having to title one , the bonded title BS....................lol
 
Don't forget that part of it is that newer cars have rotors that are so thin they either naturally warp or are designed to be thrown away when it's time to change the pads... Manufacturers are doing everything they can to make cars lighter to meet CAFE and EPA standards...
 
Chained_360 said:
Don't forget that part of it is that newer cars have rotors that are so thin they either naturally warp or are designed to be thrown away when it's time to change the pads... Manufacturers are doing everything they can to make cars lighter to meet CAFE and EPA standards...
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And like he said, everything is made to be throw away!!!! Been going on a while. MY 95 ram 3500 the front wheel bearings went Southat 100,000 mi and ate a spindle. I had a shop do it as I did not have time , HE said those years and 1 t. dodge has piss poor bearings and they all went away at that mileage. A heavy duty truck should not need bearings at 100,000. I have now 230,000 and still running his bearings with no problem.
I love building these old cars but every year I tell myself " NO MORE"!!!!!! I cry UNCLE!!!!!!! I have pretty well convinced myself!
 
Just found garage that turns 3-4 flywheels per week, He has not not cleaned a drum in 20 yrs, BUT said if I was in NO hurry, he would do them!!!! I am in no hurry!!!!! Life is good again. Now to change out engines, in a day or two when it is not JULY temps!!!!!
 
barbee6043 said:
Found a shop in Huntsville 65 miles West! Might be one in Livingston 25 mi North. I am sure there are shops in Houston (60 mi), BUT you can not hardly make me go into Houston except maybe a weekend. Never had this problem in Missouri, it is not as "prosperous" as Texas and people just did not toss everything.
Every year seems like working on these old cars gets harder and harder, and more expensive. If you try to sell one, then ......lol
And don't get me started on having to title one , the bonded title BS....................lol
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If you can find an O'Reilly, they'll ship it back to their machine shop in springfield, mo, turn it, and send it back. Don't think they charge freight either but I might be wrong on that.
 
Never had a problem here in Abilene. Been here 24 years. Its sometimes hard to network when new to a different area of the country. I made friends early on w a local salvage yard owner who is a mopar nut. As a matter of fact he sold me my 67 notch, and turned me on to Fabo. He has a 69 dart GTS 340 4 speed. He has an Ammco lathe, charges me $10 a drum or rotor as long as its for my personal stuff and not to make money on.. I just did rear brakes on my 94 silverado and he turned the drums for me. About 4 months ago i did front rotors and wheel bearings on my FWD daily driver. No problem $10 each. He told me keep them original rotors and drums as long as you can. He said, and i agree, aftermarket chinkoneze ones suck. I need to get with him on the used junkyard 'doba rotors i got for my kids car, get em cut, and sprayed up w cosmoline.
 
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True .. I lived in NW Mo. for 30 years, 10 mi out of town of 5,000. It was 60 mi from KC , so people out in the sticks had equipment and used it. Then I moved to SW Mo and 15 mi out f town of 3000. Even more of everything down there!!! And it was only 50 mi out of Springfield, 100,0000 pop in city.
I agree it takes time to find out where to take stuff! Mo. is not a high of income state as Tx. and people in general have a different thought process. They pretty much drive older trucks, vehicles, heat with wood that costs nothing but time and saw gas or if they buy it costs $120/cord NOT $300! lol Many hunt deer for the meat not the rack, and yes they actually take does and thus control the pop. and thus disease in them! Back there, there is no such thing as a "high fence" ranch!!!!!
I did find a garage out in the country that does flywheels and drums! Even though it costs twice what I paid in Mo.!!!! lol
 
Just curious what made you move to Texas that's a long way from home?
 
dartfreak75 said:
Just curious what made you move to Texas that's a long way from home?
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I meet the perfect woman. Trust me, if I could have talked her into moving to Missouri I would have. I was raised in SW Ga, moved to Mo, in '79, been down here in SE Tx 2 yrs now. I hate the cold and yes MO. is not really cold nor does it snow that much! I hate the humidity here, just like Ga but worse. Sorta like central, south Fl!
In a couple years we plan to move 100 mi north and west. Little better.

Tx is as big as 4 regular states, and really a Chevy area, but I am amazed as to how many people live here, and how few old cars are around. Wife said when scrape got high few years ago, most everything was hauled in. Further west, more stuff is still out in the pastures, but the amount of cars was less due to less population.
 
Yep a few years ago it was amazing the stuff the crackheads were hauling across the scales at the scrap yard next to my buddys junkyard. He shook his head and said you cant save em all.
 
Missouri also scraped a lot (Yep dope'ers) , but Mo. Is a real car state. Old 66 goes thru there and a lot of die hards would die before scraping any old cars or tractors too. I am sure there are still quite a few cars out in the sticks here in Tx but I can ride the back roads back home and see 10 times the old cars I see here in same time.
I love the chase!!!!!
 
shops aren't turning drums anymore because there is not much money in supporting old cars, it's that simple.
I'm from Dallas and there are plenty of places that will do work like that, Houston too.
I think your frustration is based less in the machining capabilities of the great state of Texas, and more in your lack of networking and research abilities, compounded by being accustomed to the convenience of your previous residence.
Rant riposte over!!
 
I'll turn drums all day.

But I have yet to meet a decent brake lathe that can cut within running out for a modern car.

Had a service writer want to get into it with me about why I always replaced rotors instead of cutting them.

Went and pulled the FSM - I think it was a Ford 500 I was working on. Been a while, so forgive the memory when I say it could have at most .003" run out.

Chucked a brand new rotor on the lathe, set my dial indicator, and called him over.

The lathe was turning at .009" run out. Three times the max spec.

Told him kind of hard to cut a rotor true when the lathe was already cutting it warped. At on to that, most hat type rotors warp before they wear. Yeah, that's awesome. Cut a warped rotor even thinner so it could warp that much quicker. Customer comes back a week or so later with a warped rotor complaint and we're comping new ones.

What an awesome idea.

Most brakes lathes in a tire, suspension, brake shop have been beat the **** out of. Throw it for scrap and just put on new rotors.

As long as drum isn't composite I might cut a whisper off of it, just to get rid of the rust lip. Other than that, screw it.

Flywheels?

My local machine shops will cut them all day long for me, usually within an hour so I can get the damned project out the door.
 
My 2008 HHR daily driver the rotors still had enough meat on em to turn em down. Car had 110K on it when i did first brake job it ever had. Them GM pads were great. The rotors were warped pretty bad. We turned em, got em square, still above minimum thickness. Works just fine.
 
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