can anyone suggest a good quality paint for the calipers?? i might wanna do it like the new rl's with the charcoal color any suggestions ? and what to use on the acura logo ? thanks

 

What color is your car?

I used Duplicolor high temp caliper paint for the whole caliper and some regular 89 cent spray paint for the lettering. I used a paint brush to do the words. Used an automotive clear coat spray paint to do the protective clear. Came out great and looks awesome

 

L, did you remove the calipers or keep them on?

 

Sorry for crappy photos. I got mine done at the body shop with a matte finish. This photos don't do any justice. If you want a good job, painting through a bodyshop will be a good option not unless you're a handy manny and do them yourself.

 

I kept them on. Just taped everything off.


VERY NICE! Dam those are nice. Once I have the time to take them off and apart like that, & if the Duplicolor doesnt hold up

 

Mine were baked for more than a hour. Just make sure if you take them apart, they're some small sealer rings that goes inside the piston. If you forget to put them on you will notice brake fluid coming out when you bleed them and it will cause the paint to peal off.

 

Yea thats def my perferred way of doing it, again nice work

 

zelaya -

what did that cost to get your calipers painted like that??? looks very nice.

i painted calipers once myself... i found the result did not look great if you were up close...but from a distance they looked awesome. on a classy car like the RL..I'd want to pay to have them done.

how hard was it to totally remove them?


if i did this, i'd do them gloss black. white letters. looks nice. the silver you did zelaya looks nice too... on my carbon car...black would look nice..subtle but nice.

hey L'sTL - did you use a paint on duplicolor, or was that a spray on kit? your finish looks very even..makes me think it was a spray on...

as long as you tape it all off... it will be ok.

 

If I can remember correctly I paid $75.00 just to cover paint and supplies. My friend took the calipers out and it took him about 30 minutes to take them out. I'm sure other bodyshops would charge more for this type of work.

 

Thats what I was going for, nice but subtle. The silver on Zelaya's looks great. I think he could've gone silver or White to pop with his black and silver wheels.

I used the spray on kit. The only thing painted on was the letters and the bolts. I had tape under the caliper so that I could get paint under it without getting it on the rotor. I think the clear coat I used is whats keeping mine shiny and professional looking through the weather. If I had the time and money I definitely would've went powder coat though. I just got tired of that dingy huge caliper staring at me from behind the wheels LOL

 

WOW both look great !..i prefer zelayas silver with black logo..will the paint withhold the heat and dust without pealing ?? did you get new bolts/screws or did you paint them ? can we get replacement bolts from the dealer ? and did you guys do the rear calipers?

 

I painted the bolts seperately however replacement bolts are very expensive. I didn't paint the rear calipers.

 

Thanks! I have high temp paint so I dont forsee having an issue with paint. Zelaya's was baked on so obviously that can deal with the heat too LOL I did do the rear. They are all gloss black.

 

L's TL-

can you post up some pics of your rear calipers? maybe an overall shot that can show the calipers behind the wheels from a slight distance to see how it looks overall?

nice job!

hey, what clear coat did you use - and is it meant for high temp uses? I know duplicolor and some other brands, have high temp paint kits... I used an epoxy based paint on kit on a prior car... but I did NOT use a clear coat on it... the epoxy kit dried very glossy..although b/c it was a paint on.. it did not go on really evenly so it had drips and runs in the finish... up close it looked like a homemade job.. from 5' away it looked OEM..

yours looks great in the photos.. did it go on even or did you have problems with runs, etc because you had to spray it on while the caliper was vertical?

did you prime it or just cleaned it off and painted it?

i'd like to know about your clear coat.. b/c like yous aid, that's what making it so glossy...and if that ever discolors or peels off... then it's going to look not so great... so as long as that is resistant to heat and stays intact...your setup should look really nice!

i like the black... it looks like it could be OEM.. on a car like an RL, doing porsche style red calipers would look weird.... out of place... but on an RL, glossy black or silver looks nice.

thanks for any more info or pictures!

 

Sure I can post some shots of the rear. I get the car back tomorrow and will snap the pics. Its in the body shop thanks to some hail.

The clear coat I know is duplicolor. Its meant for automobiles. I've used it on some eye lids I did for a Lexus and on some other calipers and it held up well. No yellowing or cracking. That leads me to believe it has a high temp resistance.

The Duplicolor caliper paint actually dried VERY glossy. The clear coat matted it a little bit but the gloss is still there. The caliper being vertical shouldn't make a difference. I have painted with spray cans and paint guns ALOT so I am pretty good at doing light even coats. I did numerous light even coats to make sure I didnt get any runs and had an even finish.

I think Black looked closer to OEM on my NBP RL than any other color would. Silver would look great on any color as these calipers were techincally silver when they were first made.

Thanks again for the compliment and let me know if you have any more questions.

 

My car is carbon gray pearl.... that dark gray mettalic color...... silver might look nice too... or black.

black on white might have too much contrast on my car... there is no other white anywhere on my car... but zelayas color combo of silver/black might be good... or maybe gloss black like you did L'sTL - but instead of white letters, do silver letters...

L'sTL - how did you get the letters so well painted? did you just take your time and use a small paintbrush? did you mask off the rest of the caliper with tape or anyting or just did it freehand?

Zelaya - when you had yours professionally painted - how do they do the letters?? I used to have a Porsche...a base model and it had plain calipers... I painted them myself..but the letters on the porsche were not raised... they were decals.. so I just bought nice vinyl decals and applied them... it was pretty easy... i'm afraid it would be a lot harder to hand paint the letters and have it turn out nice...

I like the idea of a professional paint job on calipers..but I can imagine to pay some body shop to pull them off, paint them, put them on would be pricey..

how long was the turnaround on thepainting of the calipers before you could put them back onto the car zelaya???

both of your cars look nice. calipers are a subtle thing, but make the car look very finished / nice. done right, it is a classy upgrade.

 

Thank you sir.

I think black with silver lettering or silver with black lettering would look good on your color car.

I used a very small Crayola paint brush that I got from Walmart to do the letters and the bolts, all freehand. There was a pack of 5 all different sizes for 97 cents. It took a VERY steady hand to get them right. But once you get the hang out it, you can move a little faster. If I messed up any I would just touch up the areas I got the white paint on with some of the black. I painted the calipers all black first though.

 

Total work took about three hours from taking the calipers,clean them with brake cleaner and installed the back. I didn't see when the painter did the lettering but he uses a small paint brush and final he used the clear coat. My calipers has matte finished. It had a light glossy finished when he painted them but it's gone. I only use soap to clean them when I do the wheels. No wheel cleaner. My friend did offer to paint the rear calipers with same price but I pass the offer.

 

Okay, I had to "get on the band-wagon" too. I stuck with black satin caliper paint and just masked off the letters. This left them with the factory aluminum finished. This was much easier to do than I thought it would be (I just masked everything off...did NOT remove the calipers). I think it looks fantastic and was less than $20 total.

 

 

 

That does look fantastic! Good job. What paint, from where, and did you clear coat them?

 

The local Auto Zone had what I needed. They have caliper paint kits, but only in Red. I purchased three individual cans of spray paint: VHT caliper cleaner, VHT caliper paint (satin black), and Rust-oleum engine enamel (clear coat).

I'd encourage you to use light coats of the black paint (two or three) and 1-2 light coats of clear. One last word of advice, mask the letters and bolts (I used blue painter/masking tape). I trimmed the excess tape with a razor blade and made certain the letters/bolts were protected completely.

 

how did you mask the letters? did you put a piece of tape over them and then carefully cut away the excess to leave only tape on the letters?? I would think it would be difficult to mask of the "ACURA" letters...

since the letters are raised... I wonder if you could paint the entire caliper.. and then sand the paint off the letters..leaving only shiny metal underneath??? or is masking the way to do it?

 

LOL, yep I did both. The first side (driver's) I just painted the whole thing and only masked the bolts. My plan was to sand/file the tops of the letters when everything dried. HUGE mistake! Take a close look at the letters and you'll notice they are machined with grooves in them. This reflects the light and makes the letters really stand out.

I ended up sanding them smooth to get the "right" look (the top photo above - without the wheel mounted).

My approach to the passenger side was to mask the bolts and letters. I used strips of tape and a razor blade. Sometimes I cut thin strips of the tape (think pin striping) too. You'd prefer the tape to cover a little more instead of a little less. Once you paint the calipers you can't really notice any small imperfections.

The passenger side looks much better in my opinion (bottom photo - with wheel) since the grooves are still there.

 

Very pretty paint job. I am going to follow your lead on this and do mine.

You like the rotors and what pads are installed? You notice a difference? (not meaning to hijack this thread)

 

The pads are great - EBC Red Stuff. Even with the stock rotors there was a nice difference (better initial "bite", etc.). I just installed the EBC rotors last Friday. Don't know if they really made a big difference, but in fairness they haven't fully bedded yet. They do look cool!

 

http://www.ebcbrakes.com/automotive/...ds/index.shtml

I think these are the best pads you can buy AND they produce almost no brake dust and/or noise.

 

Looks pretty dam good there! I like the machined lettering with the black paint. I started to tape off the bolts and letters but it was starting to become too tasking for how hot it was outside here LOL Thats why I went with the white. Plus my letters and botls were pretty tarnished. Great job nonetheless. I still have to post up pictures of my rear calipers. Just got the car back yesterday.

 

Oh and EBC makes some of the best brake pads and rotors ever. great stuff. I'll be getting red stuf for my RL soon.

 

Great thread.

 

^^ agreed! I'm doing j's racing teal on my calipers as soon as temperatures rise here in the northwest! Keep up great work guys!

 

Wow, that looks great. What is the best way to clean the bolts and ACURA letters?

 

Pics please!

 

Depends on what is on them. WD-40 makes a great all purpose cleaner. I would imagine lacquer thinner would work too.

 

Great, thanks for the info.

What is "powder coating" exactly? And how does it differ from using spray paint?

 

The metal part is charged and the powder is charged causing a magnetic affect where the powder sticks to the part.

You can literally dust it off if you aren't careful

Then the coating is baked on causing a stronger bond than a paint over the surface.

The main thing is that the part you are coating has to be able to withstand the heat of the baking process. So for brake calipers you have to remove the rubber seals.


AND FWIW, brake cleaner is good for cleaning brakes as well as parts washing solvent.

 

So, if you were to powder coat your calipers, you would need to rebuild them.

 

Yes.

 

I suppose I spend more time in Lowe's than AutoZone.