23 replies to this topic

[screech]

I stupidly fitted my new brakes long before doing anything else while it say on my drive and they are now looking rather rusty!
Would it be a good idea to shot blast them clean or not??

Cheers

[JustSteve]

The rust will be removed by the pads the first time you stop

[daviedevil]

No, a bit scotch cloth with wd40 and some elbow grease will sort then out if it's not too deep. Remember to use some brake and clutch cleaner afterwards before the pads touch them

[benspickup2011]

We rebuild land rovers for the mod, a approved and very effective method is te blast the discs. This way all traces of rust are removed. Do not oil, wd of put any for of lube on them! Failing that a good sanding works if the rust is light, Cheers Ben

[redhotminilewis]

Dont shot blast your disks!!

A little rust is fine on your disks, happens when its been standing a while. Driving round will remove this surface rust as the pads will wear the surface away to reveal the metal underneath.

[chipster196]

when we get rusty discs (i restore mgb's for a living) er run over them with a da and 120 grei paper, dont sandblast them as they'll pit them, as daviedevil said another option is scotchbrite them, as he also said clean them with brake cleaner after to remover any contaminates

[freshairmini]

what about turning it out on a lathe? would that work, if its cheaper than shot blasting it.

[daviedevil]

It's the future, lube to help rub. Cleaner to remove all nasty stuff. I work with NASA approved coatings and we tend to use tolulene as a thinner. It's good to remove oil but mutates your future children apparently. My 1990 motor looks fine though an so does the dog so it's not mutated much lol

[TopCatCustom]

I can't see that the DIY type shot blasting cabinets would have enough pressure & volume to do any harm to brake discs, especially when glass bead or some other fairly gentle media is used.

It will get in all the nooks and crannies unlike sanding, don't turn them on a lathe as unless you get them trued up 100% you will end up with effectively warped discs!

Otherwise as said above I'd just use scotch pads as it will only be a bit of light surface rust that won't be hard to remove.

[redhotminilewis]

what about turning it out on a lathe? would that work, if its cheaper than shot blasting it.

There are lathes that remove the surface of the brake rotors for you whilst still attached to the car. The main purpose of these lathes however is to actually reduce brake judder as the disks had become "warped" or deformed. I would say that it would be complete overkill just to remove the surface rust when all you need to do is brake a few times.

Edited by redhotminilewis, 05 March 2012 - 09:20 PM.

[screech]

When I say rather rusty, I mean quite a lot. Sitting right on the sea for probably nearly a year.
Will shot blast damage it then?

Cheers.

[redhotminilewis]

Will shot blast damage it then?

Cheers.

Yes

[MRA]

Shot blasting with the correct material is fine as long as the correct discs are being shot blast.... if the discs are of a low quality (not the type fitted to MOD landies) then shot blasting with glass bead will be ok as long as a lower pressure is used, the better the grade of disc the more hardy.

I would doubt that warping could be caused by shot blasting, and any pitting will be the corrosion that shouldn't really be there anyway.

Turning on a lathe is possible however rust is very hard and can easily destroy lathe tools before they have reached the full cut ie the swept area of one side of one disc

The real question is how much rust is there ??? A photo would be good

Edited by mra-minis.co.uk, 05 March 2012 - 09:25 PM.

[smudger068]

what we do with our single seaters is to, use a drill with the right size bearing nut to turn the disc and hold a file on the disc to freshen them up, using brake cleaner to keep dust to a minimum,

[redhotminilewis]

Hand Shot blasting can, and most possibly will warp the disks as you will not be able to get an even surface. Resulting in major brake judder. With machine shot blasting you stand a little better chance at an even finish, however, the rough surface will eat up the pads when bedding in and will effect the wear of the pads at the start.

The best method to remove majour rust and garantee a even and concentric surface on the rotors is using a pro cut on car lathe like the video below.

Edited by redhotminilewis, 05 March 2012 - 09:32 PM.