Help.. Painting brake calipers red

[amremt]

Tried the search engine and was unable to find a thread on the best method and or how to paint the stock calipers red. If there are any other options or suggestions i would love any advice or help. Thanks in advance.

[joeycuccaro]

If your out of warranty and your mechanically capable id suggest taking the calipers apart and having them powder coated. If your situation does not meet the above criteria then they sell paint at the dealers or any auto part store where you can just take your wheels off and paint them by hand.

[2PUTT]

get the G2 caliper paint. it comes with everything you need. it has enough paint for all 4 calipers. instructions are included as well. purems.com

[RAudi Driver]

Alright, 1st decide if you can be without the car for a few days of so. If you can't do one end of the car at a time. If you can, get the car in the air. Remove all the calipers and hit them with a sanding brush to remove all the dirt and grease. I say do it this way over just spraying it with some chemical and hand brushing it clean as it's way easier and less of a mess.

once all the calipers are sanded clean, you can use a paint prep to prep the surface. Then hang/suspend the calipers on wires and start the painting process.

There are several types of paint that you can use. The stuff from G2 is the best and give a powdercoat like finish. It's glossy and durable and looks like powdercoating. This is a two part system and runs about $45 for the kit. There is also the stuff from your local auto parts store that runs about $15 bucks and works good also. it's just that the finished product looks painted and not powdercoated. It's glossy, but it doesn't have that powdercoat finished look. Both of these systems are a brush on applications. i have never rattle canned a set of calipers so I don't know how it would turn out.

Start with 1 thin coat, be patient, and then apply another when the first one is dry. Speedy bleeders will get you back up and running in about 10 minutes when it comes time to bleed the brakes. It's simple, fast and effective.

Good Luck!

G2 two part paint system on the S4:


$15 paint kit from Pep Boys, looks really shiny just not as nice as the S4 was.

[AudiXS4X01]

^ just to bust your balls, i found your sig at the bottom ironic considering you wrote this sentence: "If you can't do on end of hte car at a time."

[likewater]

Here's one of my fronts painted with the G2 kit.

[CHECKERED]

the way i paint my calipers...

i use a hard tooth brush to clean them, then rinse with water then spray with brake cleaner.

3 coats of high temp paint (spray can) and 2 coats of high temp clear coat (spray can)

[CanuckRS]

^ just to bust your balls, i found your sig at the bottom ironic considering you wrote this sentence: "If you can't do on end of hte car at a time."

pwnd

[RAudi Driver]

^ just to bust your balls, i found your sig at the bottom ironic considering you wrote this sentence: "If you can't do on end of hte car at a time."

That's just a missed key and a transposed letter. I typed this right before dinner with my 1 year old trying to get at the computer. I might be dyslexic but I can still spell.

pwnd

Coat tail rider!


Checkered, that's a clean job. Did you also paint your pads? What type of paint ( temperature rating) are you using to keep it from peeling off?

[Glassnpowder98]

I'd also recommend the G2 caliper paint. It's pretty cheap ($38) on tirerack.com. It comes with cleaner that works pretty well, but you might want to use addition methods as mentioned above to get them real clean before painting. They recommend not driving the car for 24 hours, so you will definitely have to go without a car for at least a day. Also, if you go the route of painting the front first and then the back, you will need to purchase two sets of the paint because it cures and becomes hard after 4 hours. Although, you could always just use half of the paint and half of the activating ingredient so that you can get multiple uses out of it. Anyways, it was pretty easy although I messed up a little bit and painted my retaining spring. It should be fine, just make it a little more difficult to change my pads...

[mitchholmstrom]

Looks good i guess..

[V8S4Fun]

For sure G2! Make sure you take your time and clean those calipers the best you can!

[SoCalS4Avant]

^ That looks great.

[Dodge2Dub]

I'd also recommend the G2 caliper paint. It's pretty cheap ($38) on tirerack.com. It comes with cleaner that works pretty well, but you might want to use addition methods as mentioned above to get them real clean before painting. They recommend not driving the car for 24 hours, so you will definitely have to go without a car for at least a day. Also, if you go the route of painting the front first and then the back, you will need to purchase two sets of the paint because it cures and becomes hard after 4 hours. Although, you could always just use half of the paint and half of the activating ingredient so that you can get multiple uses out of it. Anyways, it was pretty easy although I messed up a little bit and painted my retaining spring. It should be fine, just make it a little more difficult to change my pads...

Did you remove the caliper as well? How difficult is it? I've done my fair share of drum brakes, but have never changed pads/calipers on a disc set-up.

[40valve]

I've had really good luck with caliper paint that they sell at WalMart.
It's really cheap but results were pretty amazing. Car went through 2 winters and there was no paint chips, peeling or fading. I did have 2-3 thick coats of paint and clear on top.
Buddy of mine does swear by G2 too.

[CHECKERED]

Checkered, that's a clean job. Did you also paint your pads? What type of paint ( temperature rating) are you using to keep it from peeling off?

The pads are painted, yes.

I use Dupli color or Plasti Kate brand Engine Enamel temp rating is 500F.

i dont like the brush on paint kits becuse the paint doesn't come out even.

Some of my other work.

08 civic engine bay





Altima Valve cover



The front chrome grill was painted a flat black. (it's hard to tell it's painted becuse it matches so well to the plastic grill.)


Front calipers on 02 civic


front calipers on alitma along time ago.

[charliemike]

^ just to bust your balls, i found your sig at the bottom ironic considering you wrote this sentence: "If you can't do on end of hte car at a time."

There's a difference between a spelling error and transposing letters :)

[V8S4Fun]

^ That looks great.

Thanks! Í am very happy how it turned out. The paint is holding up very well too!

[Glassnpowder98]

Did you remove the caliper as well? How difficult is it? I've done my fair share of drum brakes, but have never changed pads/calipers on a disc set-up.

No, I painted them without taking anything off. It's pretty easy to get up in there when the wheel is off. I trusted myself to have steady hands and didn't tape anything off either. It worked out fine for me. Back when I did it, I didn't have too much experience taking anything apart on the car so I didn't even really think to take the calipers apart. However, if you have experience and confidence taking things apart, I'd go for it to get a real professional look. If anyone ever took my calipers off they would see that the back side isn't painted. Haha, oh well, it looks fine when they're on the car!

[likewater]

Did you remove the caliper as well? How difficult is it? I've done my fair share of drum brakes, but have never changed pads/calipers on a disc set-up.

As Glassnpowder points out, there is no need to remove the calipers to paint. However, it is really easy to do. More so wanted to make this comment just in case you ever do your pads or change rotors.

[RAudi Driver]

There's a difference between a spelling error and transposing letters :)

Ahh, I like you Charlie Mike. Common sense FTW!

Checkered, I'm gonna call you "The Rattle Can Man" from now on. You got some Krylon skills.