Paint For Brake Calipers

[scoobysailor]

I am having my wheels off to get refurbished and while they are off I intend stripping my brake calipers back to a sound surface then repainting them. Do I need special paint or will Hammerite do the job?

If special paint is required does anyone have any recomendations/ones to avoid.

I will be repainting them red, if that makes any difference....

[scouk]

Recently repainted my front ones using a tub of red High temperature paint from halfords. Then did the lettering in white using radiator paint and a narrow brush..

THe high temperature part if pretty important as the calipers can generate a lot of heat in their time.. and you dont want the paint melting off

One downside of this paint is that it takes a while for it to harden properly... Not a paint then drive affair..

Hope this helps..

[white RA]

i used smooth hammerite, i also painted mine while my alloy's where in chameleon Coating

[scoobysailor]

Cheers for the replies. I am in no rush to get the calipers dried as the wheels will be away for a few days.

White RA - The pic of the hammerite one look good - have you had any snags with flaking / cracking due to the heat? (Mine shouldn't get too hot as I drive like an old woman!! )

[white RA]

nah, hammerite is fine on brake's, no crack's or paint faid

PS, i added 2 coat's over 2 day's .. hammerite dry's quite quick to

Edited May 3, 2008 by white RA

[nkwrx]

Hammerite barbeque paint is the business. Very resistant to heat

[scoobysailor]

Hammerite BBQ paint it is then...................cheers for the info.

[Midnight21]

I got a kit from Halfords £23.99!!!!! but it doesnt come with a brush Red too but I didnt take my calipers off, did them on the car but you need a steady hand lol

[scoobysailor]

I got a kit from Halfords £23.99!!!!! but it doesnt come with a brush Red too but I didnt take my calipers off, did them on the car but you need a steady hand lol

Decisions, decisions I will check that out too I think. I've sent you some details about tomorrow by PM.

[jimser]

heres a good guide for painting

http://bbs.scoobynet.com/wheels-tyres-brak...ting-guide.html

[AlanG]

I'd powdercoat instead of painting and probably just as cheap. IMO painting most often tends to look like someones tried to paint them. Powdercoating makes them look original and you can get whatever colour you want.

There's very little involved in stripping the calipers down and rebuilding plus you've given the calipers a mini overhaul/check that all's well in this area before refitting and bleeding the brakes again.

Edited May 4, 2008 by AlanG

[Boyakasha]

I'd powdercoat instead of painting and probably just as cheap. IMO painting most often tends to look like someones tried to paint them. Powdercoating makes them look original and you can get whatever colour you want.

There's very little involved in stripping the calipers down and rebuilding plus you've given the calipers a mini overhaul/check that all's well in this area before refitting and bleeding the brakes again.

Good point Alan, I guess if you wanted to put stickers back on you could stick them on before the lacquer is applied.

I'm so tempted to get my brembos done the same as Frayz did his.

Marc

[scoobysailor]

Where / who does powder coating and how much is it? How long does it take?

[Boyakasha]

Where / who does powder coating and how much is it? How long does it take?

Lots of companies do it, best to speak to local guys to find out who they use.

For a set of calipers I would say about £30-40 and it should only take a couple of days.

[oxbig1]

heres a good guide for painting

http://bbs.scoobynet.com/wheels-tyres-brak...ting-guide.html

sorry to butin bit i was lookin over the net 1 day and i cant remeber where but thos pics in that like i cn b4 where some 1 was on about baken the brakes to help then harden better ????

[AlanG]

Good point Alan, I guess if you wanted to put stickers back on you could stick them on before the lacquer is applied.

I'm so tempted to get my brembos done the same as Frayz did his.

Marc

What did he do with his calipers?

[paul555sti]

What did he do with his calipers?

I think he is refering to the link from scoobynet posted above.

[AlanG]

Thanks Paul, hadn't looked at that link.

FWIW when i did the AP fronts and Brembo rears, I removed the dust covers (if applicable), pistons and seals. There's little time involved in stripping them right down.

I didn't replace the seals/dust covers/pistons as they were in good nick, but you should be able to get an overhaul kit quite easily if necessary.

Reasons for doing this was i bead blasted the calipers to get all remnants of paint/debris/lacquer off them before powdercoating. It's not that easy to get into all the nooks and crannies with emery paper. Just rubbing down with emery paper and not getting all the old paint/lacquer/powdercoat off means you'll see exactly where you've missed after powdercoating or painting. Another reason for stripping was to look at the condition of the pistons and bores for pitting.

The Brembos calipers compared to the AP's are well coated from the factory as they took a lot longer to get all the gold coating and lacquer off. (plus i took the black undercoat off the Brembo's i.e. back to bare metal)

Preparation is the key. Do it right and it will look factory new