I did a search and came up with some useful info, but a lot of DEAD photo and HTML links too.

I’m looking at painting my calipers on the car because my new RIMS show off the ugly factory ones WAY too much.
Nothing too RICEY, just basic BLACK.

Questions:
Where is a good place to order a “kit” to do this?
Any brands better then others if I can pick one up locally?
Do I have to disassemble them for better results or can you do it while they are on the car?
How long does it last?

And....
Can anything be done about the RUST around the edge of the ROTOR or does that part get too HOT to paint?

Thanks,
Shawn S

 

I painted mine black last weekend. I used some hi-temp spary paint, taped some exposted metals, and basically just sprayed it about 2 coats. I dried it with a hair dryer to cure it. then let it sit over night, the second day I went driving with it braking hard to heat it up to cure even better.

so far so good.

 

nah i would not paint any of the rotor. you can buy any heat temp paint at a hardware store. or you can ask dustbuster he just did his. on my old car i did it with spray paint and it lasted for a long time, but it is better to paint it on.

 

shawn, don't bother to buy a "kit" their a waste of time/money

I've painted my calipers twice now... first red, then I went black cuz red just would get too dirty/nasty and doesnt look good under chrome.


The black has been on since last summer and is still looks great. It took me about 2 hours to do all four calipers... (that includes drying time)


Cost me $5.


I used PlastiKote Brake Caliper Spray... from pepboys... couple bucks a can. Then I just masked the area around my calipers and covered the car and anything but the calipers with a light 23 cent drop cloth from Home Depot.

works like a charm.

oh, I used a very course aluminum oxide sand paper to rough up the calipers before hand.


ill try to find some pics... as ya know... i lost a lot to photopoint.

 

well, i found pics of when i painted them Red.

was kind of a ghetto job then... didnt have any tools or a good jack or stands so it took me longer. but youll get the picture...

 

.

 

/\/\

 

Are they all SPRAY applications?

It seems like since the metal is ROUGH and an accurate finish isn’t all that critical, you could do a better job with a small BRUSH...no ???

Then you wouldn’t have to worry about all that masking protection from the overspray.

Shawn S

 

Shawn,
Kensteele knows of a "kit" that he bought and applied. Email him.......keep us posted !

 

no you can buy a can, small one like a quart will be plenty. my friend did his with a brush, dont have to cover the whole car and the neighbors car and your house.....etc.

 

there are plenty of brush kits. but they suck IMO.

ive used both... i prefer sprays.

masking takes all of 5 minutes witha roll of tape... and a drop cloth.

total cost $1.00. lol

 

Check out the reflection. Soop, put some clothes on!

 

WOW....I’m having flashbacks of the infamous PLASMA TV reflection with the BATH TOWEL shot.

Shawn S

 

we dont wear clothes in the ghetto.

 

Shawn I did my preluds before with just some hi temp red paint from home depot...and I didnt even tape it up as well as sopa did. I just wedged some news paper in there and sprayed away. Cam out great and the over spray on the roter just came off the first time i hit the brakes. Post pics when you get it done.

 

I wouldnt bother with a kit since it was so easy to mask them and spray them but if you want a kit there was one on groupbuycenter.com for like $30. I saw it awhile ago so it might not still be there but you might want to check it out.

 

Also make sure you give it more than one coat after spending all that time jacking/wrapping/taping. The caliper spray paint I used only needed 15mins between coats, so I went with threee. I went with silver (let me know if you want me to post a pic). i first cleaned up the calipers with a wire-wheel brush on a cordless drill. I done it about a year ago, and it still looks like it was just done recently. Get a good brake paint (more than a buck, less than ten), will hold up very well.

 

So if this stuff takes THAT long to dry, I’m guessing I should jack the car up on Friday night, mask it and give it multiple coats on Friday and Saturday.
And allow Sunday to dry and reassemble.

I guess my lack of owning FOUR jack stands might be a problem.
Unless I do the fronts one weekend and the rears the next.

Shawn S

 

Shawn... you always make things so difficult for yourself!

The shit doesnt take long to dry...

Give it a couple coats... with 10-15 minutes between coats. Put the wheel back on... let it sit for a lil bit before ya drive anywhere.

I've only given it a max of 2 hours to dry before driving again. So i'm sure youll be fine.

 

and umm... i highly recomend the stuff I've used. It really works well...

PlastiKote Brake Caliper Spray... PepBoys.

Available in at least Black, Red, Yellow, Blue.

<a href="http://www.plastikote.com/auto/template.cfm?product=brakecaliper">



http://www.plastikote.com/auto/templ...t=brakecaliper</a>

 

Well, I’m sure you know me by now that I like to research the SHIT out of things before I buy.
Remember my Springs & Wheels odyssey?

Usually things turn out better for me that way.

Shawn S

 

Hey Shawn the calipers dont actually touch the wheels so if you put the wheels back on carefully you wont have any problems with the paint getting on the wheels. Than you can let down that one corner of the car and jack up another corner. Worked well for me

 

That’s a good idea.
I’ll probably do that with my TL “snow” rims/tires.
So I don’t get any black paint on the "BLINGERS".

Shawn S

 

BEST PAINT is from G2 performance. If you cant find a link, let me know I ll look into it later...

They make a 2 part epoxy paint that cures like a dip or powder coat. It brushes on and is way easier than spraying.

 

Knowing shawn he gonna Zanio the calipers TOO!

 

Ok, I used the paint from the kits and I've used the cheapo spray paint in a can.

Don't waste your money on the expensive kit.

Pay attention to Soopa. This is too easy.

I'm due for a retouch and I'm breaking out the spray can(s) again (it's been almost a year).

Don't get me wrong, the kits are ok; it's just not necessary to spend all that money. In the end, it looks the same. Silver is the best, at least for me.

Do a search again here (or on ATL.com since you paid) and you will find how to take care of the rotor rust. I did it to one rotor (both around the outer edge AND the inner ring) and waited several months to compare. There is a noticable difference. So you might want to do that too, but it's not so easy, at least not as easy as spraying calipers.

 

When I did mine Shawn it only took a few min. to dry...just do one side and then switch to the other...shouldnt take you that long

 

Funny thought, but I bet it would make them look “clean” longer by repelling brake dust.

Shawn S

 

Yeah....looks who's talking. the kits are only 45.00 Too expensive ????? So is your car but we bought them anyways.

What is your time worth????

brush on epoxy...no masking....5 minutes per wheel

only 1 coat necessary I have mine on for 3 years and waxed and still look new. Paint is 5-10 times thicker thatn spray


paint....15-20 minutes to mask...several coats dry time in between and repaint every year....

You are right save 40.00 and spend an additional 3-5 hours per year doing it instead of once....

 

a spray gets in all the nooks and crannies.

in my opinion... spray is the only way to go unless your going to take your calipers apart and thoroughly paint them by hand.

but thats a two day job if ya dont have a lift. heh