Topic: Kelsey Hayes Rotor Hub machining

[Morsel]

Hello, I'm about to get my original Kelsey Hayes rotor hubs machined prior to assembly by my machine shop. I'm specifically looking for either pictures or information on a clean hub to see what parts are machined. I can't seem to find any good shots of Kelsey Hayes specific rotors online anywhere and I want to be able to instruct the machine shop on exactly what areas I want machined.

It almost looks like the outer flat surface where the wheels sit against is machined from the outer edge up until just after the stud holes and then is cast beyond that and up the side walls of the hub, but that could also be just bad pitting in the cast and maybe it's supposed to be machined all the way up, see attached pictures of my hubs and area circled.

I'm also pretty sure on the back side that only the flat stud areas and upper portion get machined as well, not as worried about this area since it doesn't show but the guys doing all the machining anyway.

Any advice would be great...

Thanks as always,

Jason

[GT500KR]

  Personally, I would just clean any burrs off of the machined surface that faces the drum, install new races and be done with it. Any material removed by further machine work would change the dimensions, possibly resulting in the drum scrubbing the backing plate.

[Morsel]

  Personally, I would just clean any burrs off of the machined surface that faces the drum, install new races and be done with it. Any material removed by further machine work would change the dimensions, possibly resulting in the drum scrubbing the backing plate.

Yeah, I was worried about that too at first, but the guy doing the work is taking off just micro millimeters just to get a cleaner surface, don't think there's going to be any problems with it, probably about a 1/4 millimeter off, if even that much, just clean the mating surfaces. I'm sure they had those type off tolerance differences from the factory...

[67gtasanjose]

Yeah, I was worried about that too at first, but the guy doing the work is taking off just micro millimeters just to get a cleaner surface, don't think there's going to be any problems with it, probably about a 1/4 millimeter off, if even that much, just clean the mating surfaces. I'm sure they had those type off tolerance differences from the factory...

I would do this also.

The surfaces you spoke of on the hub are correct. One note: Have you FINAL bearing races already pressed into place.

[Morsel]

I would do this also.

The surfaces you spoke of on the hub are correct. One note: Have you FINAL bearing races already pressed into place.

Hey Richard, sorry but on the surface of the facing out wheel surface of Kelsey hubs, do you machine the entire flat surface and up the sides, or does it stop just past the studs. I know on the Ford ones it's machined all the way up, but on the Kelseys specifically is what I'm wondering, cause on these if you look closely at the photo, it almost looks as if the machining stops just past the stud holes and then regular cast past that and up the sides, but as I mentioned, it could also just be that they are severely pitted past that point...

And yes, these will be blasted, finished and coated and racers in place prior to going for machining, then assembled with the studs pressed back in for final turning of the assembled rotors.

Thanks again for your help,

Jason

[67gtasanjose]

Hey Richard, sorry but on the surface of the facing out wheel surface of Kelsey hubs, do you machine the entire flat surface and up the sides, or does it stop just past the studs. I know on the Ford ones it's machined all the way up, but on the Kelseys specifically is what I'm wondering, cause on these if you look closely at the photo, it almost looks as if the machining stops just past the stud holes and then regular cast past that and up the sides, but as I mentioned, it could also just be that they are severely pitted past that point...

And yes, these will be blasted, finished and coated and racers in place prior to going for machining, then assembled with the studs pressed back in for final turning of the assembled rotors.

Thanks again for your help,

Jason

Yes, I just looked at your photo (did not look before at them). Yes, the hub surface on my original NON RUSTY hubs are machined all the way to the hub center and 90 degrees upwards along the hub cone, that about 1/2 inch wider ridge.
( towards the grease cap this is the portion of the hub cone the wheel centers "loosely" on).
I think yours might be pitted bad enough to think twice about machining THAT much rust pitting out...maybe not but if you remove too much metal, your wheel will ride in more (as much as you remove) and clearance from the rim to your upper control arm COULD be compromised, most notably on full end turns.

I already turned one of mine on my brake lathe, it was VERY simple but what I will say is there was already some slight distortion I needed to machine out too, not just "kissing" the metal with the cutting bit. I think it was a few thousandths of an inch to get a nice, flat freshly machined surface. (Again, with absolutely NO pitting). Things were not as "true" as you might imagine them to be

[Morsel]

Yes, I just looked at your photo (did not look before at them). Yes, the hub surface on my original NON RUSTY hubs are machined all the way to the hub center and upwards towards the grease cap too. (The wheel centers "loosely" on this surface).
I think yours might be pitted bad enough to think twice about machining THAT much rust pitting out...maybe not but if you remove too much metal, your wheel will ride in more (as much as you remove) and clearance from the rim to your upper control arm COULD be compromised, most notably on full end turns.

I already turned one of mine on my brake lathe, it was VERY simple but what I will say is there was already some slight distortion I needed to machine out too, not just "kissing" the metal with the cutting bit. I think it was a few thousandths of an inch to get a nice, flat freshly machined surface. (Again, with absolutely NO pitting). Things were not as "true" as you might imagine them to be

Yes, if it does machine all the way up to the grease cap I will be VERY careful how much the guy takes off, maybe take off enough to get rid of most of the pitting, but not all, worse case scenario would be a total fail and have to use a very thin wheel spacer (which would suck, but not the end of the world), but hopefully not...

Thanks for the info Richard...

Jason

[67gtasanjose]

Yes, if it does machine all the way up to the grease cap ...

No, you misunderstood me. It is NOT machined all the way to the grease cap, it is machined all the areas the wheel rides on, and up the cone that narrow edge where the center of the wheel rides.

[Morsel]

No, you misunderstood me. It is NOT machined all the way to the grease cap, it is machined all the areas the wheel rides on, and up the cone that narrow edge where the center of the wheel rides.

Ahhh, got it, so this area I've shown on the attached image... and obviously the very top flat edge where you can see it machined and where the racers go in (which I'm not touching anyway)... Pretty sure this is the area you meant...

Thanks SOOO Much!

Jason

[67gtasanjose]

Bingo!

[Morsel]

Bingo!

Haha, thanks... took me long enough

[67gtasanjose]

I edited my earlier answer to hopefully avoid future confusion. 

[Morsel]

Here they are, just finished up from the machine shop, said he took barely anything off, and it looks like it from my earlier pictures I took for documentation. These were soaked for two days in evaporust, then blasted, then coated with the recommended Eastwood Hi-Temp manifold spray, baked in the oven at 500 for 45 mins, then while the were still hot coated generously with Boeshield. Then took to the machine shop for final step.

I have the rotors ready to go, they got the same process mentioned above along with the original studs that I "blued" and heat treated with Boeshield as well.

As mentioned in an earlier post I documented prior to the hubs being removed from the rotors, which hub went on which rotor as well as the east position so they could be reassembled the same way.

The rotors, hubs and studs are being pressed back together tomorrow. Then one final stop at the brake shop for one last final rotor turning...

I'll be sure to post all the pictures in the build section when I'm done, but here are a couple shots...

Thanks for the help everyone,

Jason
Jason

[Bob Gaines]

I enjoyed the update . I look forward to pictures of the finished product.