Special tools

On the front disc brake kit, the outside of the rotor is sealed by what is called a dust cap. This keeps dust (or more importantly, water, dirt, and other yucky contaminants) from fouling the outer bearing. The cap has a flange that just presses into the rotor.

Here is the rotor end where the dust cap goes.

Like so. Of course, it is not inserted here, I have it just laying on the rotor. You can see the gap of about 3/16".

The cap just gets (for lack of a better word) pounded into the rotor until it is seated. There is an interference fit that keeps the car in place, it doesn't just push in by hand. The cap deforms a little to fit and remain snug. Normally I would just hold the cap and tap around the edges with a hammer, possibly also using a flat tapered punch, or more crudely, the end of a screwdriver, to really get the flange seated tight.

The thing is, the style of wheel I am using does not cover the rotor end and dust cap. They are supposed to poke through the wheel and be exposed, it is part of the look. So I want the cap to look nice, and not have all these little dents showing around the edges. What to do?


Make a special cap installation tool, of course! I must confess, this is not my original idea. I once bought a special set of wheels for my dragster, and they came with a tool like I will make.


At my local home improvement store, I quickly found a PVC fitting that fit over the cap end, registering on the flange. I will put this on the cap flange, and pound on the other end to seat the cap. Except it's kind of a sloppy fit, the cap doesn't center in the fitting end nicely. The fitting is a tad too big.

Ah, here we go. The other end of the fitting is threaded, so it has a smaller inner diameter. Of course, it is a little too small for the cap to fit in.

I chucked a drum sander tool into my drill press. I started sanding out the threads, around and around. I stopped a couple of times, checking the fit of the cap.

Within probably 60 seconds total, I had bored the fitting out to an acceptable size. The cap fits in nicely.

Like so. Now I can use the fitting-pounding-tool and do a nice installation, while keeping the cap unmarred. BTW, the fitting cost $.98, making this simple and economical, just like I like.

Front brake hoses; nothing is simple

Most people don't realize that when they push on the brake pedal, the pressure in the brake system can spike as high as 1000 psi. The lines in the car are made of steel, or a metallic alloy, to handle this pressure. Brake hoses are flexible links between the brake hard (metallic) lines on the car and the individual wheels. They are necessary because of the movement of the suspension. The disc brake kit we installed includes new hoses. Of course these are for a later model application than the 1958 stockers. And of course they don't just bolt on without some modification.

Here is another look at a stock hose. For all I know, they could be original, making them 54 years old. I have seen brake lines go bad in 10 years. Without even looking closely, you can see major cracking of the outer material. Trust me that brake lines crack internally way before they crack externally. Internal cracks cause flaps of material to block the passageway, leading to uneven brake pressure. This causes a car to pull to one side under braking. When both fronts have this problem, the car will dodge left and right under braking. It's a pretty scary feeling, and I hope you never experience it.

It's hard to see here, but I'm using the pointy ends of my dial caliper to measure the brake hose anchoring hole in the frame. On the '58 the hole is a consistent diameter.

The new hose ends have a unique shape where they fit into the frame, sort of an elongated oval with two flats on the ends. These fit into similarly shaped holes in the frame of whatever car they are designed to fit; this is still a common configuration. The idea is that you can wrench on the hard line fitting without the hose spinning since it is keyed and cannot rotate.

Here I am measuring the rough width of the oval part of the fitting. If this was a constant diameter it would slip right into the frame hole.

Just to confirm the diameter I need I measured the old hose end.

The eternal question is; do I grind the hose ends into diameters to fit the frame, or do I file the new hose end profile into the frame tabs? Normally I don't like to modify parts, because a later replacement will not just bolt on in the field if need be. Of couse you know I don't like to modify the car either, because it is the original 54-year old item. In this case I decided to modify the hoses for two reasons. One, it is far easier to modify the hose ends than the car, and two, I don't expect these hoses to need replacement anytime soon, since they will lead a well-cared for life.


I have the hose secured in a vise. I put a piece of tape over the end to keep grinding dust out. The horseshoe-shaped clip is just a stop that keeps the hose end from slipping too far through the frame hole. It goes in the slot you see. I spread it and removed it to get better access to the hose end.

Here I have my trusty angle grinder at the ready. We're going to grind the top part, above the groove. I ground the angles off and made this top land into a rough circle, going just by eye.

Somehow I have no pic of the finished work, but as I said I was just going for a rough circular shape. This is one case where exactness is not required, it just has to be the right size to fit nicely into the hole. That's what she said.


Here is the original hose anchoring clip. Be careful not to lose this since the new hose doesn't include a replacement. You know how much I dig reusing the original anyway, right?

Incidentally these get installed top-side up as shown. They should put enough pressure on the hose end to keep it firmly in place. If you're doing it right, it should take some taps from a hammer to install. If you have it upside-down, it will virtually slip into place by hand, but will not keep the hose secure and probably just fall off. I like to add a smear of grease to these to ease installation and keep corrosion at bay.


At last, our new hose end is securely in place on the frame. Our nemesis, Mr. Looped-Brake-Line is photo-bombing us, upper right, but it's a desperate measure; his days are numbered, and he knows it.

If you look closely, you can see the horse-shoe clip is the bottom stop, and our original securing clip is topside. The final reason I knew I could modify the hose ends is the flats that are evident just below the horse-shoe clip. I can still put a wrench on these to keep the hose from rotating during brake line tightening or removal.

Just front brake hoses, yet nothing is simple.



The seal problem solved

By finding a cryptic '72' on the edge of the brake rotor, I did some sleuthing. I looked up various 1972 Chevy inner bearing seals on the Federal Mogul website. The site helpfully lists dimensions. There it was, the seal for a 1972 Chevy Chevelle seems correct! A little more measuring and checking the site leads me to find that the rotors and calipers are '72 Chevelle too.

In hindsight, this makes perfect sense. 1972 was the first year front disc brakes were standard in Chevys. But the spindle geometry for '72's probably had not changed too much from 1958. So the best parts to use in a conversion for '58's would be the ones closest in age, the 1972's. Now I get it.

Here is the seal I need. My local parts store had two of them for me by the next day. 1972 parts are not exactly falling off of parts store shelves, but the point is I can get them, if needed, and certainly more quickly and easily than 1958 parts. I'll get a couple of extras to have on hand, along with inner and outer bearings.  I plan on keeping a box of spares in the trunk, just so I can be self-sufficient on trips and such.

Before you drop the inner bearings in the hub, add more grease. It would be difficult to have too much. Seriously. If you forget to put the inner bearings in before the seal, you'll likely damage a brand new seal taking it back out. Fortunately I did not forget the bearings.

Place a small block of wood on the seal, and pound on it with a hammer. This keeps the seal flat, and prevents you from driving the seal too deep. It's a ton easier than chasing around the outside edge trying to tap it in with just the hammer, which is a good way to dent it and damage it. Sometimes the easiest way is the best way too.


Before final assembly, I painted the calipers and backs of the rotors with satin black paint. They come bare cast metal, so I want to keep them from rusting up and looking nasty.

So there it is, the seal mystery solved, and our brakes are ready for final, final assembly. This is good, since I'm in the mood to bend up some brake lines.