The best techniques and paint for calipers?

[rb5230]

just wanted to freshen up my brake calipers, they are Subaru 4 pot calipers and are currently red with white writing but i want them red with black writing as now they are not looking their best as some of the paint has chipped etc.

Just wondering what paint is going to be of a good quality and whats the best way to rub down the caliper so as to get in most areas.

Thanks

[hesnotthemessiah]

Now don't take this the wrong way (honestly) but unless you are highly proficient.....I would give it to the expert/s, otherwise it will end up looking a complete dogs dinner. IMHO obviously.

[LuS1fer]

I used caliper paint on ebay but applied with an artist's square flat small brush rather than the sweeping brush they supply. Use a good brake cleaner, some fine sandpaper and I used a Dremel small wire brush. Just remember you're dealing with asbestos so don't breathe it in. The finish I got with a few coats looks great and you don't need to do the whole of the back of the caliper - just stop at convenient cast lines. The paint was about £11 and available in lots of colours.


One thing I found was a drop of brake fluid will remove the paint completely so may be worth trying that to remove the old paint.

[Podie]

hesnotthemessiah said:

Now don't take this the wrong way (honestly) but unless you are highly proficient.....I would give it to the expert/s, otherwise it will end up looking a complete dogs dinner. IMHO obviously.

Agreed. Get them done professionally - it's worth the money.

[driftdaddy]

if you have flaoting calipers just get some halfords vht paint and do them black as nobody wants to see st calipers. on the other hand if you have muliti piston calipers i allways do mine

400 wet and dry

vht primer

600 wet and dry

then

pick a hammerite colour spray (smooth finish) and apply in thin layers


this has bar far been the best method for me wich i've found through trial and error. they cope with serious heat, track days ...etc with no issues

[GilbertGutbucket]

LuS1fer said:

Just remember you're dealing with asbestos so don't breathe it in.

AFAIK modern pads don't contain asbestos but it's best not to breath-in any dust anyway.

[TheLurker]

Hammerite has worked for me. You wont get a great result, but can look OK if you take your time. Lasts OK too.

[Podie]

I had a full remanufacturing job done on mine at www.biggred.co.uk

[xr287]

Was going to do mine myself and cleaned up the fronts then realised I would never get a good enough finish on my own so had them all powder coated for the princely sum of about £20. Look great and even in silver/grey colour have stayed incredibly clean over the last 6 months, brake dust doesn't seem to stick. The only slight annoyance was having to file away the edges of the pads to get them back in due to the thickness of the powder coating.

[tr7v8]

GilbertGutbucket said:

LuS1fer said:

Just remember you're dealing with asbestos so don't breathe it in.

AFAIK modern pads don't contain asbestos but it's best not to breath-in any dust anyway.

Pads haven't had asbestos in them for years, but still not going to do you any good if you breath it!

[plenty]

Podie said:

I had a full remanufacturing job done on mine at www.biggred.co.uk

Surprised they didn't remove or mask the guide pins. Still, nothing that a couple of minutes with a bit of wet/dry won't solve.

Back to topic - I've had good results with rattlecans and it's easy to do. Obviously it won't be as good as a professional powdercoat, but IMO there's not much point having a perfect finish on calipers as they get caked in dirt pretty quickly, not to mention scratched up from pad replacements.

[rb5230]

Big reds pricing is somewhere along the lines of £250 for just the fronts, so i dont think im going to go with that as i really dont need calipers to be 100% perfect as they get chipped and filthy etc. I have seen plenty of diy jobs which look more than adequate for my wants just wanted to know the best way to crack on with it.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Painted calipers

LED washer jets

Rude-boy exhaust

Alloy pedals

GT stripes

Vinyl roof

HID overbright headlamps

Big chrome rims

LED marker lights

Range Rover "Sport"

..................why?

[tr7v8]

I've done loads & tried various paints. None are truly impervious to brake fluid although 2 Pack isn't bad. These days I use Hammerite smooth & try & keep brake fluid off of them. Prep is generally wire brush, dremel & then wash in thinners to get the grease off & then warm both the paint & the calliper before spraying. I put spray can in a hot kettle full of water & the fan heater on the calliper & then spray, gives a great finish & flashes the paint off quickly.

[rb5230]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Painted calipers

LED washer jets

Rude-boy exhaust

Alloy pedals

GT stripes

Vinyl roof

HID overbright headlamps

Big chrome rims

LED marker lights

Range Rover "Sport"

..................why?

Are you really putting painted calipers with that other list of modified rubbish? well i will tell you why, because they are painted as standard, as they are on most cars with decent brakes.

Bloody hell you must be special.

[Berger]

Nitromores to get the old paint off and wire brush.

Then several thin layers sanding between coats to smoothen it out totally. Bit of tissue/card in where the bleed nipples go to protect them. Removed all the guide pins and sliders etc first.

I didn't split the caliper as I didn't see the need to, plus I had heard that the bolts were one use only stretch bolts so felt confident leaving it in one piece.

Then apply heat proof transfer from ebay.

Then finish with clear laquer to protect it.

Mine came out OK, can't do anything about the alloy corrosion at the bottom though!



I *think* I used Hammerite gold and Plasti-Kote clear laquer for metal.

Edited by Berger on Friday 24th December 21:13

[rb5230]

Berger said:

Nitromores to get the old paint off and wire brush.

Then several thin layers sanding between coats to smoothen it out totally. Bit of tissue/card in where the bleed nipples go to protect them.

Then apply heat proof transfer from ebay.

Then finish with clear laquer to protect it.

Mine came out OK, can't do anything about the alloy corrosion at the bottom though!

Looks a good job to me, i wondered about nitromores but i know it is horrible stuff and was wondering if it would cause a problem with the paint sticking to the metal afterwards, but obviously not.