Painting Calipers, any advice? Options

[NickJames]

I am going to paint my front and rear calipers as soon as the weather warms up a little more, any body do this, and can you offer some advice ie; what to tape off, how many coats, etc.... any help would be appreciated

[playr158]

best way to do this

a) remove them from the car
b) wire brush them clean
c) use a degreaser chemical to clean the surface very well
d) rinse off and dry
e) primer
f) paint
g) clear coat

make sure you use a caliper paint or a high temperature paint cause they get HOT

[jc47]

I tried to do it once and don't think I ever would again. It takes forever to get them to look good, and even with high temperature paint it does not seem to last, esp. in winter. Even the powder coated replacement calipers that I bought began to rust through in about a month. I have rear drum brakes, and I do paint the drums. The only way I can get it to last is to clean and repaint them about once a year; the drums seemed to be a lot easier to paint than the calipers though. If you want to paint them, you may want to only do one and wait a couple weeks to see how it holds up before spending the time to do all four.

[Rayme]

I painted mine with ceramic based, high temperature paint, using a little brush. Its been 1 year + 1 winter and it still looks good, but not as shiny. Some store even offer kits to do it. ANd its easy. I did all four in about 30 minute with my rims still on!
Spray painting make a layer way too thin for something that takes abuses like calipers, I did it before and didn't last long at all.

[playr158]

I did all four in about 30 minute with my rims still on!

this.....is the wrong way

[celi_gt_racer]

do you need a high temp clearcoat? I'm considering doing this today since i managed 2 get off work

[playr158]

yup

[Rayme]

I did all four in about 30 minute with my rims still on!

this.....is the wrong way

my wrong way works, its as good as the person who does it.

[Sammyr]

I used this kit and was real happy with the results, I did take the wheels off but left the calipers on and masked off the surounding area

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/caliper.html



This post has been edited by Sammyr: Apr 2, 2007 - 5:47 PM

[Rayme]

I used this kit and was real happy with the results, I did take the wheels off but left the calipers on and masked off the surounding area

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/caliper.html

Yes its the same I had! Best way I found so far.

[elvasoshexai]

i used the duplicolour kit last april... they're all chipped now bcuz i had my brakes done 2months later... bad choice... i think i need to repaint mine again this yr...

[Mangozac]

i used the duplicolour kit last april... they're all chipped now bcuz i had my brakes done 2months later... bad choice... i think i need to repaint mine again this yr...

The moral of the story - change your brake pads before you paint the calipers!

Seriously though, I wouldn't expect the paint to chip that easily....

[Sammyr]

As shown in the pic above, I avoided painting any of the clips and mounting hardware so as to avoid any damage to the paint when the pads are removed. If they are I still have 2/3 of a can of paint left

[alltracman78]

I did all four in about 30 minute with my rims still on!

this.....is the wrong way

+1

I have found that Por15 actually works best on this.
You have to clean the calipers GOOD though, and let them sit for a few days to harden for the best results.
I also tore them down 100% and sandblasted them before I did it, and rebuilt them afterwards. They are 100% covered, not just the side facing the wheel.

It's available in more than black, but that's what I did it with.
Not cheap either.

But I bet it will last longer than any other stuff you all have sprayed on yours.
And it won't chip with a brake job [maybe if you smash the caliper with a hammer, but in that case you shouldn't be doing the brake job in the first place....].

[Rayme]

I did all four in about 30 minute with my rims still on!

this.....is the wrong way

+1

I have found that Por15 actually works best on this.
You have to clean the calipers GOOD though, and let them sit for a few days to harden for the best results.
I also tore them down 100% and sandblasted them before I did it, and rebuilt them afterwards. They are 100% covered, not just the side facing the wheel.

It's available in more than black, but that's what I did it with.
Not cheap either.

But I bet it will last longer than any other stuff you all have sprayed on yours.
And it won't chip with a brake job [maybe if you smash the caliper with a hammer, but in that case you shouldn't be doing the brake job in the first place....].

Well there more than one way, letting paint sitting for a few days won't be much help, high temperature paint cures with heat, its even recommended to go take a ride to heat up the brake real good to cure the paint hard as its supposed to be. That duplicolor kit comes with brake cleaners and you also need to scrape some of the crap out of it before applying the paint. Calipers takes alot of abuse, theres no best/good way as the paint will chip eventually, same goes with a good car paint. I said I painted my though my rims (winter rim) as to say how easier it is to use a paintbrush than spraying it, I'm not recommending this to anyone unless you don't care about your rims.

This post has been edited by Rayme: Apr 5, 2007 - 11:02 AM

[CelicaST_CALI]

Why the hell would u take ur calipers off for two days?I really dont think u need 2 days mabye one day,i mean how are u going to drive without calipers..AKA u wont lol..time to get a bus pass

This post has been edited by CelicaST_CALI: Apr 5, 2007 - 2:17 PM

[alltracman78]

Why the hell would u take ur calipers off for two days?I really dont think u need 2 days mabye one day,i mean how are u going to drive without calipers..AKA u wont lol..time to get a bus pass

To do it the right way.
Spraying [or brushing] it on through your wheels will cover most of the caliper.
It might even stay on for a while.

But I guarantee NO caliper paint, hi temp or not, is as durable as Por15.
My calipers are 100% covered. And it takes several days to cure to full hardness.
My car happens to be my toy. I also have a truck.
And on my car I don't halfass anything. So they sat for a while [I was doing other stuff too] before they were reassembled and put on the car.

It can be installed in a day, it just takes several to harden completely.

Oh, and it doesn't so much take heat to harden it [though it might speed it up a bit], it actually takes moisture in the air to harden.

Manny [Presure2] knows about this stuff.
I have it on my complete rear subframe, rear diff, ect.
This year or next the entire underside of my car will be getting it.
It's expensive though.
$100 gal roughly.

[95st-celica]

I went to Pep boys, or your local paint suplier and bought a can of high temp caliper paint and used that...took the rims off, masked it up a little, not realy technical and sprayed them that way...only thing ididnt like is that the paint seemed real runny and it took forever to dry..did it in about 30 minutes tops for the front....doesnt take long and for what it is im happy wit the results...i did it before winter and ill do it again in about another week because the brake dust is a pain in the a@@

[illneversellmyce...]

duplicolor caliper paint kit from autozone works great, dont have to take them off and quick dry, mine still looks good after 6 months

[hellsyphon]

Anyone know or have experience on how durable powdercoating the calipers would be?