caliper paint? Do or Don't? [Merged 8-8] painting calipers brake brakes

[jswart26]

Just put some new calipers on the rear. I was wondering if anyone had any rec.s on painting them. The old ones were crusty....will paint prolong the life. Should I do it or not do it? If I should is it easy enough for a rookie to do it? What is a good brand? Appreciate any advice!

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

It looks good. I will do it when I have the calipers of to replace the rotors. VHT makes a good Caliper Paint. You can buy it at summit.

 

[siueclipse]

i painted mine. no worries with them at all. Don't even worry about getting paint on the rotor, just jam on your brakes after you paint them, it will all come off after a few times. I used engine paint on mine.

 

[jswart26]

Thanx for your input! I appreciate it.

 

[jmsmit5]

you can also buy the paint at walmart for pretty cheap.

 

[nvs]

engine paint at wal mart. it's a ceramic paint with very high heat resistence. made by DupliColor i believe. no need for some overpriced "caliper specific" paint. this stuff is the exact same and only about $5.

when painting, do one coat at a time with about 15 mins. between coats. 4-6 coats. after all coats, allow to dry for several hours before putting everything back together. goodluck!

 

[DsmAwdTsiTurbo]

painting calipers looks really good if you do it the same color as your car

 

[Tallen]

if you want a good look, but not too flashy, paint em silver. looks great on me car

 

[Redlin'r]

So what kind of paint do you guys recommend to use for painting calipers? I used engine block paint on my other car, but wsa wondering if there was a better one?

Also what is the best way to do it? Keep the caliper on and just cover the rotor and wheel wheel so they don't get paint on them was what I was thinking, but just seems ghetto. Gotta be a better way...

 

[brcewane]

Yeah, any high temp automotive paint will work.. you can actually find some that are meant for calipers.. they are protected against tire/brake cleaners.

I did mine like you said.. just masking everything off.. but you do end up getting some on the rotor.. If I were to do it again I would just pop the caliper off.. it comes off really easy.

 

[Boost Era]

I agree about removing the caliper. Its not too hard to remove them, remember if you disconnect them from the brake line (like I did) you'll need bleed the line (very easy with help from a friend). I painted mine while I was doing my engine rebuild. Auto Zone and Pep Boys carry specific brake caliper paint.

Another good thing about removing the caliper is that you can check it over to make sure everything is working well. When I removed mine they needed some cleaning and grease.

When you clean them before painting, dont use anything except brake cleaner to clean them (especially if you leave them on)

Good Luck!

 

[Jenkins27]

i used g2 brake caliper paint from the tire rack it works great and look great to cost 38 dollars and is very easy to put on check it out and you will see

 

[95 Mitsu]

This is a pretty good writeup.
LINK

 

[SnYpEr]

This link has some paint specifically for calipers www.tirerack.com/brakes/g2/caliper_paint.jsp

 

[FlipDsM]

hi, i just want to ask an opinion about the brand/kind of paint i can use for my caliper. since i'm about to replace my rotor, i thought i should do some extra work. i notice that my caliper has alot of rust build up in it, and i'm thinking about painting it aluminum. any suggestion?

thanks

 

[Defiant]

Points for going with a sensible color. Check the racks, they're marketing some of their hi-temp paints as caliper paint these days. I'd stay with VHT if you can. It's all in prep, you have to be scrupulously clean.

 

[workin_on_it]

cleanliness is the key......... get a can or 2 of brake cleaner and some steel wool or dremmel to get rid of the rust....... and paint right after you finishgetting the rust off! i cleaned mine really good, shined them up real nice with a die grinder and scuffing pad, then ran out of time to paint that day.......didnt end up painting them till a week later......and they were rusty as hell already.....paint is on good now......just used some black engine enamel.
remember lots of thin coats! not one thick coat!
good luck

 

[jim97gst]

I painted mine like 4 years ago with some high temperature engine paint for like $5. I did really good prep work and the paint is still on there just fine. There's no flaking, chips, or rust. However, they got dirty with brake dust not too long after and they're pretty much impossible to get clean. I did paint them red and white (what was I thinking!). Anyway, I see Porsches and other high end cars rolling around with bright red calipers from the factory, that never seem to be dirty. I don't know if these guys are just cleaning their calipers all the time, or if the Porsche factory uses some kind of super slippery paint that dirt won't stick to. It might also be in the design of the brake setup. Anyway, my point is, it might be worth looking into some kind of caliper paint that is designed to repel brake dust. I don't even know if it exists though. Good luck. BTW, I'm think about repainting mine black or dark gray .

 

[1fast97gsx]

I am in the process of installing the aem bbk on my gsx so I figured I'd paint the calipers as well. I took them off the car and used caliper paint I got from pep boys, however when I did thin coats the paint just wouldn't stick to some parts of the caliper and when I did thicker coats it started running. Now I have to get all the paint off somehow and find a way to get it on smoothly. I was using spray stuff, should I brush it on instead? Is the pep boys stuff ok? Do I have to scuff up the caliper before I paint it??? Thanks.

 

[DSMRevolution]

From what I know, spray on caliper paint never seems to hold up. To get the old paint off you might want to try aircraft remover. Its available at the auto store. CAREFUL with that stuff, its nasty! Also you will want to scuff up the caliper before painting. That would make it adhere better. A company makes a kit (cant remember the name) but it is a very good kit that you can use to paint the calipers. Its a brush on paint I think.

A spray can job will look good for awhile though if it is properly done (sanding, etc). I spray painted mine a flat engine black (high temp) and they no longer have paint on them. That was maybe 4 months ago.

 

[1fast97gsx]

ok I'm probably going to jsut buy a kit off ebay. Thanks.

 

[Gh0zTeR]

the question is... =) is it considerd lame to paint your break calipers ?

 

[greathuskie]

it looks good depending on what rims you have

i painted mine black, if you look youll notice if you dont you wont, but they look good

remember to sandblast your calipers before you paint, the finish will look 10x better and last longer

 

[Defiant]

Only when someone calls them "breaks" instead of brakes.

Tip You May Need: the arrow on the button indicates where the paint comes out.



Other than that, some colors are not really a good choice for calipers. Which ones are and aren't can only be determined by whoever's looking at them.

 

[Gh0zTeR]

Damnit... I always make that spelling error. =(

I will make sure to look out for that arrow when im doing the job!

Thanks for the advice =)