Caliper Paint

[CKlasse]

Since I had willwood kit on the last car. I have never had to painted calipers. Well, I am about to do so with the C. Any brand suggestion? Should I just use engine block paint? Thanks in advance! :)

[Kühl Carbon]

Hey CKlasse, I wrote a long tech article on this once.

The most IMPORTANT thing ... just like any job, is the prep work. The cleaner you can get the calipers and whatever other pieces and parts you want to paint, the better.

If you do a proper job cleaning all the brake "kits" and "paints" work pretty well. My tech article focused on how to do a really professional job the most economically, so I did my own research and purchased all the components individually.

Brake cleaner is cheap ... I am sure you know that. $2.50 a can. Pick up some wire brushes to waste on this job ... my local Murrays had a set of 3 grades in one pack for like 2 and a half bucks. The best bargain I found on specialized brake paint was VHT for about 6 bucks a can, once again at Murrays. It is a spray which is extra convienient, you just have to do a little more masking, but I think the results are worth it. It is available in Red, Blue, Orange, Black, and Silver. I chose blue and at that price I picked up 2 cans just to make sure I had enough ... total 12 bucks.

The Engine Block paint you refered to is usually good to around 500 F while the VHT brake paint s good to about 900 F. Even if you used 3 cans of paint, the total job can be done for under 25 bucks .... If you decide to go the "kit" route, be careful when purchasing and read the fine print. A lot of the kits are packaged to do 2 calipers, not 4.

[Kühl Carbon]

Here is a link to the VHT site:

Linky :P (http://www.pjhbrands.com/vht/breakcaliper.htm)

I hope this helped.

[Henry47]

how do i REMOVE paint from the calipers? Mine are chipping pretty bad and looks pretty unattractive.

[CKlasse]

nicely written. I wish we can have an archive for all the knowledge/experience shared on this site.

I am going to look around for VHT while waiting for the weather to get up to the 90s to ensure long lasting paint anyhow.

Today, I took off the stock muffy and play around with the CF tips. It fits perfectly onto the rieger apron. It looks GREAT! You are gonna regret you ever let these two go :D :D

[CKlasse]

Henry.....

Remove the paint and repaint it.... try this (http://www.pjhbrands.com/vht/stripfast.htm) per Kuhl's suggestion :)

[Kühl Carbon]

Yep, that would work.

Henry, it sounds like you didn't do a very thouogh job of cleaning them up the first time. It is the most important step. Expect to spend 1 to 2 hours PER CALIPER just cleaning if your brakes are well used like mine. Use the wire brushes to get in all the nooks and cranies and be liberal with the brake cleaner.

CKlasse, I wanna see pics of your work soon ;) .

[2phast]

I have quite a bit of info on caliper painting under my 190E section and my Corvette section. I bet you might find some info there that is usable for you.

[Henry47]

Originally posted by Kühl Carbon
Yep, that would work.

Henry, it sounds like you didn't do a very thouogh job of cleaning them up the first time. It is the most important step. Expect to spend 1 to 2 hours PER CALIPER just cleaning if your brakes are well used like mine. Use the wire brushes to get in all the nooks and cranies and be liberal with the brake cleaner.

CKlasse, I wanna see pics of your work soon ;) .

hah, yea I hardly cleaned them at all. I was in a rush to ge them done. It lasted me over a year and a half before they started chipping, but now it's just getting annoying. I hear that I shouldn't spray any kind of paint thinner/remover on the brakes because it might eat away at certain spots and become harmful to the brakes themselves.

[Nektopoli]

Someone should make this sticky.

NP

[yal]

I bought rebuilt OE calipers after one of mine seized up. The calipers came completely clean as a whistle from Cardone. I have always wanted to have painted calipers so I painted them using the paint laquer sold. Word of advice get yourself a mask cause that stuff stinks and you're going to have to get close to get it right;) If you want to use spray paint instead make sure its rated 1200 degrees and not 700. Rustoleum makes a BBQ grill paint thats really good and comes in many colors.

I also painted the center of my rotors by cutting out a template using art paper to cover the important areas. Three coats, easy as pie. It eliminates that rust look and slows down the accumulation of rust on the lip of the rotors.

[pocholin]

Has anybody powder coat them???

I'm removing my (never painted) calipers and having them powder coated, any suggestions? (other than paint them red :D)