Painting Brake Calipers

[boostdemon]

By: Dan Roth

Description: Have you always wanted to have those trick looking bright red calipers showing through the rims on your Volvo? Many people just spray paint the calipers the desired color. This works for a little while, but eventually heat, brake dust, and exposure cause the paint to dull and flake off.

http://www.turbobricks.com/mods.php?content=art0006

[TurboBrick940]

In addition I would suggest using an aerosol brake cleaner first, followed by lacquer thinner, mineral spirits, etc. The brake cleaner to remove the dust and dirt, the lacquer thinner to remove the traces of brake cleaner. It is also important to protect the rubber piston boots, as they are sensitive to such harsh chemicals if left to 'soak' in them, for example. After cleaning, compressed air is an excellent aid in removing / fast drying the remainder of the cleaning agent. Any traces of brake cleaner/paint thinner will make your fresh paint bubble and eventually chip off.

I would recommend taping off the pistons, and internal parts of the caliper during painting, and not removing them from the car, simply doing an excellent job of masking the surrounding area, and moving that caliper as you would for a brake pad service.

my .0002 cents:

i have had very good results with engine paint. of course i clean the calipers well with a small wire brush / brake cleaner before i paint them. they have yet to chip, they do eventually fade - but it takes a couple of years

[wildmanben]

my .0002 cents:

i have had very good results with engine paint. of course i clean the calipers well with a small wire brush / brake cleaner before i paint them. they have yet to chip, they do eventually fade - but it takes a couple of years
I've had a very good experience using engine paint on calipers as well. The rears never seem to fade, although with 500* paint the fronts slowly fade away. But it's only a 10 minute job to touch it back up if you leave the calipers on the car. Cheap and easy and it works, just make sure you clean them well first, especially the first time.

[DerSnart]

I have had good luck with VHT brake paint over the years. The only place I can find it is Autozone but it might be sold elsewhere too. It does go on thin so you have to do many light coats but the end result is very good. I (in the name of science) didnt clean one of the calipers thouroughly before painting it, I just sparyed it down with a can of brake parts cleaner; the paint lasted about a month before it began to flake... so clean anything you paint down to the metal! Just thought I would add my two cents...

[xtonyx]

on chris (2ptslow) 's jetta i just wirebrushed the **** out of the calipers. after that i rubbed them down with acetone and let them dry for a minute. masked everything off and then sprayed two-three coats of high temp acrylic **** from pepboys.

they still look good and its probably been six months or so.

we'll see how they last though.

[stylngle2003]

i just finished painting my calipers with the duplicolor brush on ceramic paint. i painted mine silver since red and yellow dont really fit on my car. anywyas. if you have about 2 hours to prep and paint the car, and then 24 hours to let the paint cure, you can have awesome results like me! (pics when the snow melts... :grrr: )

[greenteagod]

Hell I unbolted mine taped them off and painted them with engine paint and then clearcoat. It's held up wonderfully for a couple years now.

[Tenacious Todd]

I took mine off the car,the carriers included bead blasted them ( of course blocking off all holes) and painted them with caliper paint and 2 years later still look great.. Also painted the carriers different color..Brakes Link (http://www4.pbase.com/turbo16psi/image/16827023/original)

[xtonyx]

painted mine the other day.

sprayed em with brake cleaner, brushed em with a wire brush, and sprayed them with engine enamel.

we'll see how long it'll last. chris' still look good w/ no problems and it's been almost a year now.

[745 TurboGreasel]

POR-15 looks great on mine, and is impervious to all underhood contaminants, including brake fluid. It also looks best applied over surface rust. if you spray it on, the results are awesome. Wiped on with a cloth works pretty well too, I do that on bendy parts like coil springs.

[DaButcher]

I simply bought "red engine block paint" on spray, washed and took some layers of enginepaint.

[RedFridge]

I used the IPD kit.....a little pricey but worth it in my opinion.

Besides IPD being local....I support them whenever possible.

[Snow_K2]

I painted mine a few weeks ago with Duplicolor Caliper paint. It may seem a little ricey because it was in the ricer section in autozone. I was suprised though, they came out better then i expected. The kit comes with paint, caliper cleaner, a paint brush, and a mixing stick. I would get a small wire brush for better cleaning.

Duplicolor Caliper Paint Kit - $15 at autozone (http://www.duplicolor.com/products/caliper.html)

some pics

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/snow_k2/P1010244tb.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/snow_k2/P1010243tb.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/snow_k2/P1010242tb.jpg

[boostdemon]

I painted mine a few weeks ago with Duplicolor Caliper paint. It may seem a little ricey because it was in the ricer section in autozone. I was suprised though, they came out better then i expected. The kit comes with paint, caliper cleaner, a paint brush, and a mixing stick. I would get a small wire brush for better cleaning.

Duplicolor Caliper Paint Kit - $15 at autozone (http://www.duplicolor.com/products/caliper.html)


A friend of mine used duplicolor on his calipers (lexus is300) went as far as removing them from the car to make sure they were perfectly clean and even baking them to make sure the paint cured properlly... still peeled ~6 months later. I was sad cause i got the leftover in the can i was going to try out

[Neil Peart]

I painted mine a few weeks ago with Duplicolor Caliper paint. It may seem a little ricey because it was in the ricer section in autozone. I was suprised though, they came out better then i expected. The kit comes with paint, caliper cleaner, a paint brush, and a mixing stick. I would get a small wire brush for better cleaning.

Duplicolor Caliper Paint Kit - $15 at autozone (http://www.duplicolor.com/products/caliper.html)

some pics

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/snow_k2/P1010244tb.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/snow_k2/P1010243tb.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/snow_k2/P1010242tb.jpg


Yes Awesome stuff. Was just over pfunk242's house, and his brother was doing this, it was decent looking.

[stylngle2003]

yup, duplicolor brush on is the ****, i love my silver calipers now

http://i.pbase.com/u10/stylngle2003/large/42844282.paintedcalipers.jpg

theyre dirty, but they actually clean up nicely with a distance shot with a pressure hose

[xtonyx]

i've used spray on black engine enamel on 2ptslows jetta and my car.. **** sticks good. 5 bucks a can, takes about a can to do all four. just use a wire or stiff bristle brush and a clean rag to wipe em off (or compressed air if you've got a face mask).. let the paint dry, then do a few hard brakes to bake it on. no peeling or anything. ive had mine on a few months, and he's had his over a year. still look good.