Others had mentioned rust on the brake rotors, I had the same problem and here is what I did to fix it. The wheels look a lot better now that the rust is gone off of the ROTORS!!!

You will need the following.

Stainless Steel wire Wheel that you can attach to a Drill.
High Temp Brake paint or header Paint. I used Header paint from Plastikote, 4.99 from pep boys.
Painter’s masking tape "Blue Kind"
Floor Jack instead of using the factory jack.

See pictures below to follow the results are well worth the effort.
This takes approx 2 hours for all four wheels.

Brake Rotor before being wire wheeled.

Brake Rotor after wire wheel.

Brake Rotor after taping and painting.

Rotor painted and wheel installed.

NO MORE RUST.

Nice pics... Love to see these kinds of How-To posts.

Excellent thread.

I'm wondering what those calipers would look like zapped with the same color (two birds with one spray can kinda deal).

Good stuff, thanks for the post.

Did you paint the brake rotor vents as well? That's what I want to stop rusting on all my rx's, but I have no clue how to clean the rust from inside the rotor vents.

Looks good!

Shooter,

Man I so wanted to stay away from this mod. maybe because it's not blue ... But you're looks SO GOOD, I don't know how I can't do it! Looks like you've added this to my list. Looks really good.

Looks really good. I wonder if we did it in matching body color how good it would look. Just to be different.

Again really nice job.

Ack! I have the gray. Doesn't stand out as much if I paint the calipers and rotor hubs that color....

Hmmm...a nice Ford Blue, perhaps?

huhsler:
Hmmm...a nice Ford Blue, perhaps?

Ha. That reminds me, I want to see someone debadge their 8 just to bolt one of these on...

Looks realy clean. Very nice. CJ

Originally posted by HIX8
Ha. That reminds me, I want to see someone debadge their 8 just to bolt one of these on...

Moderators, ban this man immediately!!! :D

Hey, don't joke about it guys - one of the UK's biggest car magazines (Auto Express - a weekly mag) this week had a picture of the rear of an 8 with the blue oval! PhotoShopped, of course but it sent a shudder down my spine :mad:

It was in response to someone writing in to suggest that the 8 would make the ideal base for a replacement for the Ford Capri!

Haver a look, if you can bare it...

http://rx8ownersclub.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1199

My eyes! My eyes! Aieeeeeeeeee!!

DEAR SWEET JESUS NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Oh my God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!tHIS CAN'T BE TRUE!!!!!!!!!

Yup - that's the response from this side of the pond too!

Here's something that I find interesting...

Go to the website www.mazda.com and it prominently shows the Ford Motor Company logo (with a link even).

But go to the country specific Mazda sites, such as www.mazdausa.com or www.mazda.co.uk and you'll find NOTHING to show any connection with FMC (or if it is somewhere in those sites, it's burried deep).

This is one more indication that deception, lack of adequate disclosure (or worse) is an issue within Mazda.


As a smaller example, I was at a local dealership this Saturday and noticed that they had a "0.0% Financing..." sign on top of the roof of their RX-8. A sales rep walked by and I asked about it, knowing full well that the sign says "...2003 models":

Me: "Is 0.0% financing available on the RX-8?"

Rep: "No."

Me: "Has an RX-8 ever been sold with 0.0% financing?"

Rep: "No."

Me: "Then why don't you move this sign off of this car?"

Rep: "It gets people to ask about it."


Sad to know that deception is a standard part of this business. It doesn't have to be that way.

It's too bad the calipers are so roughly finished. Painted calipers are a major vanity item on performance cars. Shooter, got any ingenious solutions for this problem? (Make mine red, pls.)

When I painted my calipers red, I also did the center to prevent rust. I can take a close-up pic when I get a chance, but you can kinda see them here http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19142&highlight=it+finally+made+it

Cheers!

Im going to paint my calipers the same silver color i painted my rotors so they match. I have the nordic green so red wouldnt lok so hot on my calipers.:p I do think mazda should have done something to make the appearance a little cleaner. With the 18's you can see alot of the rotor and seeing rust is definitely unsightly.....

Painted the calipers, heat sheilds and rusting rotors this weekend.

Here's a couple of things I figured out that might help....
1) The front rotors come off with only two phillips screws, but break them loose before you remove the calipers.
2) Home depot sells pretaped 18" plastic drop clothes. Works great...run it around the wheel well and pull it into the alxes. Saves a lot of time and tape.
3) I you take out the pads, remember which clip goes were. They are different on the inside and outside of the front calipers.
4) Save a little paint in the spray can. After the brakes are reassembled, spray it into a container and use a brush for touch ups.

Finally, here's some pics.

Final product before wheel is put back on...

Last one...while the wheels were off...detailed wheel well and waxed rims...

ordered RX-8 caliper decals in silver, that will set the off a lot better...

Xcel,

Looks interesting with the red calipers.

Is that black paint in the middle?

Also, where are the silver caliper decals?

Looks good, what paint did you use?

this should be moved to the DIY section. Very nice.

I used Dupli-color engine enamal. It is good to 500 degrees. I bought it at an auto parts store (has a big block on the can).

Yes, I used black in the middle and on the heat sheild too.

And the silver RX-8 caliper decals are on the way.