Drilling Out Brake Rotor Rivets

You
can accomplish this with the calipers in place. You just won’t be able
to test if you can fully remove the rotor once drilling is complete, but
you can save that for another rainy day. First off, center punch the
rivets. If you are slightly off center you still will be ok for rivet
removal, it just may be a little more tricky to get back on center for the
rest of the rivet bolt, but that’s no big deal either. Second, use
Cobalt drill bits. Start a pilot hole with an 1/8” bit. Then you can
move to a 5/16” bit to drill through the rivet head and another 1/4”
past to get into the rivet bolt and beyond the rotor hub and into the
spindle hub. Third get a good steel chisel and hammer. Place the chisel in
the center of the hole you just made in the rivet head and hammer the
rivet head to a side. This will give you a gap to fit a screwdriver in to
pry the head off. That’s it. Just be prepared to clean up a lot of
metal shavings. With Cobalt drill bits you really don’t have to apply
too much pressure. I find the drill cuts better as the bit heats up.