Jamal

What is the easiest way to paint stock brake calipers?

TLAdvanced

iTrader: (4)

the easiest way is to brush the paint on with G2 caliper paint or Duplicolor.

bpham

my 6spd ones are fading / chipping. probably gonna repaint them white to match the car. i know theyll get dirty fast though haha. i remember seeing a guide how to do it. it was posted around here. i'll have to search

01tl4tl

look in the DIY-garage section for details
10 dollar kit from Duplicolor, and buy a 2 buck pack of extra 1 inch wide foam brushes
The paint dries fast and the brushes are throw away items- use a new one for each coat of paint
cleaning the grease off and other prep is the key to a good job

Jamal

Okay doesnt sound too hard, what kind of cleaning should be done before?

Also, I plan on painting my stock rims black, and was wondering if painting my calipers blue would look good? Otherwise I will do red, but I feel like everyone does that. And I would paint the acura center cap "A" blue too.

bzyrice

iTrader: (10)

Click my link in my sig to see how I did mine..

LoveMyTL-S

Here are the G2 colors available:

http://g2usa.com/colors.shtml

golfjwr

This should tell you everyting you need to know about painting the calipers:

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/d-097-diy-painting-factory-brembos-red-white-acura-logo-640092/

01tl4tl

the $10 duplicolor kit has a can of spray cleaner, masking tape, paint and a single foam brush- so get a bag of extra brushes $2

I prefer black calipers and brackets--unless they are real brembos or wilwoods and you want to draw attention to the brakes
If the crummy single piston stock caliper--hide it by painting black

01tl4tl

painting the rims is far more difficult than the calipers~
those will need to be well sanded and properly sprayed a few coats, baked, clear coated etc. for it to look good and last

brake calipers are mostly hidden when the wheel is on, and easily touched up
For those who are going to ziner meets- no one has even gotten close enough to the wheel to see any imperfection in the caliper paint- all they say is `hmmm slotted rotors-nice,,,` are those legend dual piston calipers? (a gen2 mod only-sorry 3s)

Jamal

Thanks for all the help, and yes I know the rims are harder, but I know how to do those.

So where can I find the duplicolor caliper kit at? Walmart?

LoveMyTL-S

I know Walmart, Autozone and Pepboys has the Duplicolor kits.

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

If painting calipers, you need to get rid of the junk that is on the surface, and the best way to do it is to use multiple bits and sanding drums on a Dremel. Yes, you have to spend about 30 minutes on each caliper, but the up-front work is worth it. If you don't sand off the gunk and go with clean metal, the rust and all will eat through the paint and it will look like garbage in a short time (1-2 years).

Spend the time to Dremel and smooth out each caliper, clean it, and then paint it. Post pics!

Red Voodoo

Red, or yellow, or _____ (fill in blank due to preference) will look better than the OE "silver" color. Black is blah.

bzyrice

iTrader: (10)

I just used sand paper, a scotch pad, and brake cleaner to prep the surface of mine.. just like anything you paint.. the better the prep, the better the paint job..

Here is how mine turned out.

01tl4tl

the duplicolor kit has a can of what appears to be brake cleaner type stuff- it dissolves the grease off nicely
You can paint from there but I prefer to hit surface area as possible with a wire wheel in the cordless drill, just to rough the surface, get any corners and edges clean
Respray cleaner - mask and paint

Jamal

What needs to be masked off when painting with a foam brush?

01tl4tl

the visable portion of the outer brake pads back-- there is supposed to be some caliper grease there, not paint that might stick a pad to a finger and make it not work
and
the connector of brake line to caliper and the bleeder nipple-dont want paint on its threads
wrap in tape just to be safe

the box has pictures and directions anyone can follow
try their website for full color choices and product info

01tl4tl

gen2 diy section has a few paint threads- plus gen3s

Jamal

Okay everything sounds good. Since I'm planning to paint my stocks black, I thought why not paint my calipers at the same time. But I was deciding between red or blue.

01tl4tl

black out everything including the arm that is vertical behind the tire
the caliper brackets- caliper itself...

pearlite TL

iTrader: (1)

get them powder coated!

01tl4tl

powder coating is awesome - but in this case the op said- whats the EASIEST way
that would be the foam brush method with duplicolor kit
Least amount of masking and potential to screw it up

Jamal

Yeah exactly. The brake calipers will barely be seen anyways so im not looking for the best way, just the easiest.

Jamal

Also, should I put a clearcoat on over the color or no?

01tl4tl

if you can find engine paint clear coat- thats high temp and ok to use
Otherwise just leave them and touch up as needed

boltzus

I've tried several different methods on several different cars and the only good quality product is the G2 paint. Well worth the $$, because when you prep and paint them right you won't have to do it again next year

01tl4tl

no doubt its a good product and used by many here, AND the OP was asking for the easist method for a basic clean look

So what if you have to touch up the paint once a year- you should have the wheels off to flush the brake fluid anyway, thats a perfect time to paint and put some fresh synthetic car wax on the rims to help brake dust slide off

Jamal

Yeah i dont mind if i have to touch it up every once in a while.

01tl4tl

you're not done yet?!

Jamal

I've been getting feedback, and making sure I know the right way to do everything first.

I don't want to mess up anything.
Probably doing it sometime this week

bzyrice

iTrader: (10)

its easy just time consuming.. mine took 2 days because I wanted to make sure the pain dried.. did you click on all the links we gave you for DIY?

Jamal

Yeah thanks I checked them out!

01tl4tl

2 days-!
duplicolor- as fast as you can take off the wheels and put them back on

LoveMyTL-S

True. The Duplicolor dries so fast. You can literally start the next coat on the other end of the caliper right after the first coat. What I did was paint one caliper, go to the next and all the way around and start all over on the first one. By the time you get back to the first caliper is was very dry and ready for the next coat. Did that for three coats. Slap the wheels back on and off I went.

bzyrice

iTrader: (10)

well, see I had to put two different color paints on mine. I wanted the letters to be red and the caliper to be gold. SO, I waited over night after I painted the red before applying the gold. I really didnt want to have the gold and red mixing by accident .. I WOULDVE BEEN PISSED if I had to redo them!

LoveMyTL-S

Awwwww, the ACURA lettering. Yea, I guess I would have waited a little bit on that also. Better to be safe. How did they turn out? Post pics.

bzyrice

iTrader: (10)

I posted a pic in an earlier post in this thread.. but I will post it here again haha.. sanded the calipers down and removed the Acura an replaced it with Brembo, since they are in fact brembos.. I went with the nissan Gold with red lettering cuz I fell in love with it when I saw it in real life! (More pics can be found in my Sig)

t0talacuratl

iTrader: (3)

I would like to repaint my calibers black. Anyone know where I can get the "ACURA" lettering stickers from? I want it to look as stock as possible.

Waltah

iTrader: (3)

excellent write up and results! love the gold