What is the easiest way to paint the brake callipers? Has anyone had any problems doing this? I am thinking about painting mine blue to match the color of my car. Ideas...suggestions... are welcome!

 

Do a search in Car Talk for posts by Shawn S He did it and posted excellent instructions with Pics.

 

Yes I did a great write-up with lots of pictures, but the darn SEARCH function is still not working correctly.
I can’t find the thread.

Shawn S

 

Ya that write up of Shawns was pretty good, I had to do the same thing with the 2X4's to raise the back high enough.

Dark Blue would look great, mine match my car pretty well.

 

Shawn S, I cant find the thread either. can someone let me know if they find the thread? or post the link in this thread?

 

After a grueling page – by – page search through posts in April & May of 2002, I found the thread.

Here YA go……….
http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showt...threadid=68568

Shawn S

PS…. It sure would be nice if the SEARCH function actually worked Soopa

 

The search button not working is a "feature" which Soop installed...cool your jets, Shawn!!!

 

Why can’t he “fix” it? It’s not like he has a JOB to go to or anything.

 

Fuck...Soop...you are STILL out of work? Are you giving head for beer money?

 

I'm thinkin about doing this too on my spring break. Just one question, was did you use to clean the callipers cause they're all greasy/dirty?? And shawn nice masking skills....

 

The car was only one month old when I did this so they weren’t really that dirty.
I just scrubbed real good with DAWN & water.

I need to touch mine up a bit this summer.
Does anyone know where I can get caliper paint that is BRUSH ON ???
I only need the front surfaces touched up and I really don’t want to go through that masking BS again.

Shawn S

 

Its funny looking at those OLD pictures of my garage with the stone floor before the concrete was poured.

That piece of SHIT floor jack has also been replaced with a 7,000 pound MONSTER that can lift the entire front or rear of the car 22” high.

Shawn S

 

Shawn...you're a gazillionaire, aren't you? I'm jealous

 

I used some engine de-greaser, or you can use wheel cleaner w/ a brush, just make sure they dry well.

 

If I was a gazillionaire would I be doing this SHIT myself and hanging out with you losers ???

Shawn S

 

ouch... that hurts

 

Shawn is in a bad mood today... bitchin at poor Soopa, calling us losers... Don;t worry guys he will be spending more time on a new forum since he just bought his wife a new whip..

 

ya, go TOY around the other forums...

 

Hey all you guys: This might not be the EASIEST way, and it will not be the CHEAPEST way, but, this is the RIGHT WAY.

POWDER COAT THEM!

Powder coatings are, generally stated, the worlds toughest paint. And this is coming from the guy who taught Porsche how to powder coat their calipers back in the early 90's. I work for ITW (Illinois Tool Works) at our centralized R&D facility in Glenview, Il. My specific function is I am the company expert on powder coating application and curing; I have two patents in powder coating and two more possibles at the Patent Office in D.C. right now. I've been powder coating for 13 years.

Technically, powder coatings are not paints as we know them. Powder coatings are plastics (I know, you think plastic is "cheap", but here you are dead wrong! Powder coatings can be epoxies, polyesters, polyurethanes, polyester TGIC's (tri glyceridal iso cyanurates), PVC, PET, and teflon. Remember, plastic does NOT rust!

Of the above, I would recommend you use a polyester tgic as a first choice, straight polyester a good second choice. DO NOT USE EPOXY, PVC OR PET, AND FORGET TEFLON (too expensive).

You cannot do this by yourself (unless you know someone who works at a powder coating job shop. If you do, you are really lucky, because your painting cost (not total cost), drops to $0.00. If you go with powder coating, forget re touching them up, because you will never need to-believe me.

Here is how you do it ( and consider getting your wheels powder coated to match/contrast your car at the same time.)

1: Find one or two powder coating job shops in your area. Discuss intentions and cost. Find someone willing to work with you. Promise them you will bring them your calipers in a pristinely clean condition. Ask to see color chips made by powder manufacturers and pick one out. Keep in mind the gloss level you want to achieve, you will probably want very glossy. Keep in mind you can get standard paints, metallic paints, hammertones, translucents. Something really cool to do is get a silver metalflake as a base coat, then follow it up with a translucent over coat to match your car, but not a lot of colors are available in translucents (which you can see through, but are color tinted.) If your car is blue, red or teal, you might get lucky here. After you choose, the job shop will order a 3 or 5 pound sample, and it will not cost you a cent unless you request something really exotic.

Remove wheels, drain brakes. BE REALLY CAREFUL HERE. bRAKE FLUID IS INSTANT DEATH TO YOUR BODY PAINT. iF YOU GET IT ON YOUR HANDS OR CLOTHES, WASH UP IMMEDIATELY.

Disassemble the calipers completely. Everything. Do NOT powder coat the brake bleeder valve. Take the four calipers (only) to your auto parts store and ask for them to be solvent cleaned, or, do it yourself with gasoline, or Methyl Ethyl Keytone and a scrub brush. Wear gloves.

Take the four calipers to the powder coater. Ask them to mask the caliper cylinder bore(s) and seal landing areas with high temperature Shercon (or the like) high temperature non residue mylar masking tape. He will know what you are talking about and will have it. After that, revisit the auto parts store and ask for the calipers to be sand blasted. This gives the paint (any paint, for that matter, what we call "tooth"; a rough surface for the paint to adhere to. When done, put the four calipers in a trash bag and seal tightly. You are down to bare steel now, and corrosion can set in instantly. Go directly to the powder coating job shop.

Ask for new masking if needed in the bore and seal areas, if needed, and have him plug the inlet and bleed pipe thread holes. If you do not, you will find yourself purchasing metric taps for pipe when it comes to reassembly. Also, I imagine there are some electrical wires that goes to the calipers. Mask that area also.

Now, we powder coat, and before I describe the process, look at your wheels. They are powder coated. I said you can't do this yourself (unless you want to fork out 5 large for powder coating equipment, but you could cure it in the kitchen oven. Do not try to save a sheckyl or two by asking for powder coating and then taking them home and curing yourself. At that point, the powder, although adhering very firmly, by electrostatic attraction, is very fragile. One ding, one thumbprint in the uncured coating, and it is there for life. Let the powder coater do the entire job.

The painter will hang the part on a hook, thereby grounding it (-). The powder is positively charged (+), and the stuff works just like magnets when it is sprayed. The powder MUST be cured, or, it is junk. Most powder coaters just spray thin sheet metal, but probably do castings also. If your PC guy does not have a lot of experience with castings, INSIST that when your calipers exit the cure oven (about 375 f for 15 minutes), ask that they immediately grab them after exiting the oven, and run them through the oven, IMMEDIATELY. Now, go put your car back together. Oops!, forgot to mention, when you apply the PC, the inside areas that touch the pads should be masked also. Tolerances here are tight.

There is some really, really cool shit available with regards to powder coatings, and they will take the heat of the brakes, but two suggestions about this: One, do NOT use "chamelon" powder coatings. These metalflake coatings look blue from one angle, red from another, and green from a third. And they are expensive, about $30 a pound. I think your car would look pretty stupid with one green caliper and one red, viewed from an angle on the same side of the car. Two: A nice looking Acura symbol, or the acura name, or, a combination of both, decal on top of the powder coated calipers would look pretty trick in a contrasting color, but worry about temperature limitations. Porsche solves this with a stencil (expensive!), and they put the white "porsche" label with powder coating over the base red caliper, basically double cost.

If you are in or near the Chicago area, reply to me, and I can arrange a demo, or even do your parts, for free, if the work load isn't too high. Or, I can do them on a Saturday, for $50 of my time. Most people are paying around $400 for 4 wheels, without connections. Once again, this is THE RIGHT WAY TO DO IT!

 

I have a q for the masters of calipers... paint caliper and brace or just caliper....... all help would be greatly appreciated... I painted both and thought it might bee too much .... took it off the brace .. what do ya think about the entire thing... if the car wasn't in the shop for 4 more weeks I would post some pics

 

Sorry for reviving this thread again, but I think with the Group Buy going on, this would be a PERFECT time to bring it up. I'm thinking with the rotors and pads removed, this job would be VERY easy to do. My question is...Shawn....what kind of paint did you use? Is there special caliper paint? I want to say that there must be, but I'm not sure. Thoughts? Comments?

 

You read my mind, Todd.

 

I used a can of spray paint that was specifically for painting Calipers.
I picked it up at a local Auto supply store for like 10-bucks.
Krylon I think.

I do need a summer touch-up because the past winter was HARD on the paint.
Most is fine, but there are a few spots that you can see the stock color through.
I’m looking for something that I can BRUSH on so I don’t have to go through all that masking again.

Shawn S

 

Ask, and ye shall receive, my friend!!!

http://www.rapidparts.com/rapid_g2/paint.html

 

I’ve seen that posted here before, but I don’t want to spend that much for a complete KIT when I only need a few dabs of a brush to fix the way mine look.

I just want a small can of paint, no cleaner, spray and all that other stuff.

Shawn S

 

aim your spray can into a plastic cup. you can then dab a brush into the cup and onto your calipers.

I sprayed mine over a year ago, and they survived this past harsh winter just fine. I used 3 coats of VHT. I initially Cleaned the calipers up with a wire wheel on a drill.

 

Here's some info on G2 "Paint on'. It's got a nice shine (almost like a clear coat finish).

http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showt...hreadid=100685

 

I had an Eclipse (4 wheel discs also) before my CL-S and i used the G2 brake caliper paint system, everything comes with it and instructions. has enough paint to give each caliper 3 coats. I had it on my car about year and 1/2 before i sold the car. Mine stayed with extreme gloss for that period of time, but you have to make sure you do get them with soap and water when washing car. I have had friends that use the spray paint and mine were more glossy.
What your looking for to clean the caliper is like a brake system cleaner from an auto parts store, think i might have seen something called. (the G2 system has the cleaner with it, just spray on and shit runs off).
The G2 runs about $ 50 and worth it in my opinion. I will be getting another kit to do my CL-S's

 

if your gonna paint your calipers do it RIGHT. use G2 brake caliper paint. this is VERY glossy and the paint gets real hard

I got 5 coats in the fronts, and 4 coats in the rear, and still had enough for more but I was getting tired so I stopped after that.
Once you mix the paint w/ the hardening agent its good for 4 hours.

plus you don't have to mask everything and worry about overspray vs. spraying
42.95 free fedex shipping :

http://wheelskin.com/Merchant2/merch...+CALIPER+PAINT

 

Question about masking...Did you tape it all off by taking the caliper off or did you just tape around it...Just wondering

 

Yes good point NOVA, 4 hour time limit on G2 before hardening, I almost had one caliper undone, finished the job just before paint clumped into one big ball (with my brush stuck in it).

 

With G2, it's best to get all 4 wheels off before you start the process!

 

No need to go crazy with tape. Took about 5 minutes for wheel to tape. It's really a clean job (no worry about over spray). The G2 paint is fairly thick too so it doesn't run.