Inexpensive Way To Turn Brake Rotors

Inexpensive way to turn brake rotors FARM SHOP Maintenance 16-5-23 You can eliminate the most time consuming and expensive part of automotive brake jobs with a new abrasive "brake paste" that polishes brake rotors and drums while you drive with no need to take them off the car for "turning". Inventor John Hilman of Solon, Maine, came up with the idea for his own use and has now started marketing it. "I've been doing my own brake work for 20 years and tried many ways of grinding and turning rotors on my cars. At first I got the idea of putting a special pad on discs to grind the rotors smooth but then got the idea of applying a `soft' abrasive paste to the rotors at the same time as new pads are installed and letting the regular braking action of the car polish the rotors while simply driving normally. I've been using the idea myself now for 7 years with excellent results," says Hilman. The paste consists of crushed limestone suspended in a petroleum-based, non-toxic thick paste. It fills pits and scratches and smooths and polishes disc brake rotors and brake drums back to like-new condition after just a day or so of normal driving, according to Hilman. The product is designed to be applied to one side of one rotor at a time. Hilman says that as soon as you hear metal-to-metal contact on one of the pads, you should replace all the pads that need it and apply the paste to the rotor which was damaged. "The idea is to only apply paste to one side of one rotor at a time - the other rotors should still be polished since pads seldom wear out at the same time. There's no noticeable reduction in braking ability after the paste is applied," he says, adding that the paste is not intended for badly damaged rotors but for rotors that have just started to wear. "Big companies would probably not approve of this product but I developed it as a shade tree mechanic for other shade tree mechanics," says Hilman. It takes about 1 oz. of product to treat one side of a disc brake rotor. A 6-oz. can sells for $10. Hilman also sells a 1-oz. sample size for $3 (send SASE). Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Hilman, Eco-Motive, 4040 Brighton Rd., Solon, Maine 04979 (ph 207 654-3994).

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