I am working on the front brakes of my buick. I took the drums off and took them to have them turned with the hubs still riveted to them and they said that they were not able to turn them with the hubs on them. What do you guys do? Can I drill the rivets out of them and put them back togeather somehow, or should I take them to another shop with the hubs still attached?
I agree. It won't make any difference. In fact, it'll be a more accurate turning because the drum will be centered on the hub that it rides on, not the arbor of the lathe. I've done plenty that way.
Take them to a guy who still has all of his teeth. It should be super easy with the hubs in them. The person probably just didnt want to do them. I turned mine on an old AAMCO with NO problem. I even machined the lips down on my finned ones. Now THAT took a while!
They are for my 53 buick special. I sent them with my buddy to his work and he said that he was unable to turn them. That is the reason for the question
They're not aluminum are they? Some times when you try to machine the aluminum drums, the iron insert will separate from the drum. that might be why they didn't machine them. If not, then there's no reason that they couldn't do it. It's just like doing a drum on an early '80s Chrysler front driver.
Around here, most machine shops won't do drums and rotors anymore, no money in it. Hell, even the parts stores don't turn drums and rotors either.