Those new Euro Red pictures have convinced me - those are the UGLIEST calipers on any current car!

Even the crappy turbo Neon gets fancy painted brake calipers!

I have the HT Red paint - can anyone give me a downside to a couple of coats of red on the caliper body?

Jack 'em up, Danno!

S

They're not too bad from a distance but close up they look agricultural. Given a winter they look like they'd rust off the car!

Amimeya agrees with me!
S

Originally posted by StealthTL
Amimeya agrees with me!
S
those appear to be aftermarket calipers, but yes that does look good, but what color should i paint my calipers when i get my yellow 8, hmm i'll prolly leave it stock

my goodness those Amimeya calipers are huge. Did anyone here discuss whether it is better to completely remove the caliper if you want to paint it or if it is best to leave it on and just cover everything else up well. Also, how much would aftermarket calipers like the Amimeya ones cost, and would they mess up performance or braking?

Originally posted by pmacwill
my goodness those Amimeya calipers are huge. Did anyone here discuss whether it is better to completely remove the caliper if you want to paint it or if it is best to leave it on and just cover everything else up well. Also, how much would aftermarket calipers like the Amimeya ones cost, and would they mess up performance or braking?

bigger calipers would increase braking

Anyone notice this is an American Spec car?

Orange Refelctor, and Left-Side Drive.

Originally posted by The Beav


bigger calipers would increase braking

omfg... it's never that simple.

lets try again:

Did anyone here discuss whether it is better to completely remove the caliper if you want to paint it or if it is best to leave it on and just cover everything else up well.

Originally posted by pmacwill
lets try again:

Did anyone here discuss whether it is better to completely remove the caliper if you want to paint it or if it is best to leave it on and just cover everything else up well.

I've tried both ways on my current car. If you completely remove the caliper, you have to deal with messy brake fluid, and then you have to bleed the brakes. I've also painted the calipers installed. You have to be very careful and cover everything up inside the wheel well. Plus, try to do it where there is no wind since some paint droplets might make it onto the body :mad: Like Stealth said, use high temperature paint. I haven't decided whether or not I'll be painting my calipers, but if I do, I won't take them off the car.

Originally posted by wakeech


omfg... it's never that simple.

it's not the point a bigger caliper usually has more pistons or larger pistons that allow it to clamp down on the rotor better and more evenly to increase the braking ability are you happy now, that wasn't the point of the discussion so i decided not to go into detail

Originally posted by The Beav


it's not the point a bigger caliper usually has more pistons or larger pistons that allow it to clamp down on the rotor better and more evenly to increase the braking ability are you happy now, that wasn't the point of the discussion so i decided not to go into detail Actually there is still a lot more to it than that, and you're essentially wrong.

But I'd let wakeech after ya, he's vicious! :0

Originally posted by Hercules
Actually there is still a lot more to it than that, and you're essentially wrong.

But I'd let wakeech after ya, he's vicious! :0

i was trying to stay on topic an make it simple, but wakeech decided i oversimplified, if you want to talk about brakes make a new thread and we'll talk about brakes, and then i'll go into detail and make sure i say everthing perfect (instead of just trying to spell something out as short as possible) but for the time being

let's stay on topic the red calipers look good, but honestly i would just paint mine flat black if i were to paint mine (but mine is gonna be yellow so red would look kinda off (to me))

Just get the larger brembo calipers and rotors when the become available. :D

PCMACWILL.....no please don't take 'em off! you will possibly get bubbles in the tubing and spongey brakes until you get the air back out!
But DO take them off the disk, and wire them up, so you can mask them up, front and back. Tape around the hose, mask off the piston, paper off everything around from overspray.
Good idea to give the backs of the pads a coat of black HT, they show thru the wheel and need the treatment (the paint on the pads of even the show cars is all rust & nasty) but this can be done on the bench while the caliper is off the disk.
Don't forget to take pictures before & after!
S

I believe a lot more factors are involved with UPGRADING a brake system, calipers, cylinders, lines, location of calipers, rotor quality and design, brake pads, and much much more.

Guys, it's not that difficult to bleed a brake system....just take the calipers off and DO IT RIGHT...
don't act like honduuuuuh owners! Next youll be spray painting the interior....
OMG, please tell me you're not gonna spray paint the interior...I can see those light bulbs going on in your head....big 8" chrome tips.....a big R sticker....lime green paint....stop it, no, don't do it..
just poking fun, but, seriously, remove the calipers to paint.

Originally posted by norats
Guys, it's not that difficult to bleed a brake system....just take the calipers off and DO IT RIGHT...



And while your at it, replace your stock lines with some nice SS braided ones!!

Originally posted by The Beav


it's not the point a bigger caliper usually has more pistons or larger pistons that allow it to clamp down on the rotor better and more evenly to increase the braking ability are you happy now, that wasn't the point of the discussion so i decided not to go into detail

you are in deep... $@#t

i'll send RomanoM after you LOL

Originally posted by TerenceT


you are in deep... $@#t

i'll send RomanoM after you LOL

This is about another topic than brake torque. I'll just let the math talk.
But The Beav is on the right track, if a bit off :).


As far as painting, the only issue is the same you have with all painted items, peeling, cracking, color fading, etc. But unless it's some NASA insulating paint or something that holds in heat, it won't have any bad effects.

BTW - that ugly coating is cheap looking, but it actually has the highest level of corrosion resistance and durability. Good coatings with current EPA regs are very expensive. The well working, good looking and inexpensive coatings are all bad for the environment. Painting calipers is quite expensive.


P.S. - Don't make brakes rocket science, it's not :p

I've painted a set of brake calipers before it is unnecessary to take off the caliper just cover the rotor with a plastic bag see picture below. The correct spray paint can be bought at auto zone/petboys or your local ricer shop. You need this paint because it has a certain epoxy in it that will make it stay. Careful not to get on the rotor or you'll get an unpleasant squeaking noise when you break, till the paint rubs off.

opps

I painted my calipers on my old car quite a while ago and now I can't remember whether I sprayed primer first. Does anyone know if it makes a difference? And do you think red would be the wrong color for my winning blue baby?

Red could be too distracting for a blue car. How about yellow or silver?

good point. i'll go to the store t see what colors they have available.

so does anyone know whether i should primer the calipers first?

since painting the caliper requires you to take off the wheels and calipers..someone told me this automaticaly voids the warrenty on the breaks.Is this true?

Originally posted by AC TL
since painting the caliper requires you to take off the wheels and calipers..someone told me this automaticaly voids the warrenty on the breaks.Is this true?

IMO, I don't see how taking the wheels and calipers off would void the warranty. Unless you damaged the calipers doing so. Maybe somebody working at a dealership can give you a definate answer if removing the caliper would void the warranty.

But, if that is so for the caliphers, you don't have to remove them. Just protect the pad and the surrounding area with plastic or something else to protect from overspray and paint the calipers. That's what I would do. Not that I would be worried about a warranty issue, but having to bleed and readjust the brakes if I removed the calipers. Too much work.

I read on some other forum a while back about people painting their calipers.

What they would do is spray the paint into a container and then brush it on with a spong or something, something that won't leave brush strokes. It takes longer but it solves the removing issue and it solves the overspray issue.

There was another thread about a product from G2 that is sold at the Tire Rack. This stuff is supposed to be really durable and is a brush on paint that dries to look almost like powder coating. It seemed much easier since everyone said you only needed to remove the wheel and not the calipers.

I think I am going to try this route, I will try and post pictures if I can get some time to undertake the project. Probably go black or silver as other mentioned a bit more subtle than some of the other colors.

what's so hard about taking the wheels and calipers off/??

btw, regardless of which brand of paint, a good idea is to semi-heat up your calipers before painting them to bake in the paint.

Originally posted by TerenceT
what's so hard about taking the wheels and calipers off/??



There's nothing hard about taking off the wheels. However, the calipers are a different story to some, especially when you have to readjust the brakes after you are done. Some may not be as mechanical as you or they may want to take the extra time to do it. Although "baking" in the paint may be more durable, there are people that painted the calipers in other ways and it's durable enough. Taking off the calipers is an unnecessary step that many do not want to take just to paint the caliphers.

The G2 product yeilds very pleasing results

Close-up

That looks so good I'm gonna do mine this weekend

Thanks, Take your time. The instructions say that if it's 80 deg F the paint sets up in 20-30 min. I used a small cooler with ice in the bottom and a towel to prevent direct contact. It seemed to slow the set time down. I put on three coats and still had plenty of paint left.

TNRED8

looks good, can you clarify which paint product you used, brand name / paint type?

The paint comes in kit form from "G2 Products". This is a high temperature paint kit for painting calipers. Igot my kit through "Tire Rack" , but there are a lot of retailers handling the G2 kits. I may paint our Miata's calipers next.

ta, i wonder what the equivalent will be in the UK

Any suggestions as to where to get the paint? (red is preferable)


Thanks.

try pep boys or autozone or kragen its like 10 bucks

I just finished painting mine with the G2 product. I tried the silver since I thought the brighter colors would be to much for a black car. I didn't remove the calipers and it was pretty easy to apply, although if you want to get all of the caliper you would need to take them off since there are portions that are too difficult to reach, they aren't visible.

One other note the silver is darker than what is shown on the package. I wanted it to be lighter to match the wheels a little better. This color would be a great match for the titanium color RX-8 paint.

I will post pictures if I get the time.

Originally posted by sun stroke


I will post pictures if I get the time. [/B]



Please post your pics. I'm thinking about painting mine silver to match my 8 (sunlight silver). I like the red but not sure if that would look too gaudy.

After listening to many of your ideas, I went ahead this weekend and painted the calipers yellow (I've got the yellow RX8). As I was prepping to paint, I noticed rust around the hubs that was visible through the rims.

After cleaning the rust off, I used the G2 to paint the hubs so they didn't rust again. The car just hit the port in July, and they were rusting already. I'm not sure if I'm crazy about the yellow hubs or not.

Thoughts? Should I repaint them with G2 silver? I plan on keeping the calipers yellow though - I like those.

FWIW, I'd keep the calipers yellow (nice touch) and repaint the rest in silver.

the calipers look great

Originally posted by RX8ObjeX
After listening to many of your ideas, I went ahead this weekend and painted the calipers yellow (I've got the yellow RX8). As I was prepping to paint, I noticed rust around the hubs that was visible through the rims.

After cleaning the rust off, I used the G2 to paint the hubs so they didn't rust again. The car just hit the port in July, and they were rusting already. I'm not sure if I'm crazy about the yellow hubs or not.

Thoughts? Should I repaint them with G2 silver? I plan on keeping the calipers yellow though - I like those.

For some reason (I can't put my finger on why), painting the hub makes the wheel look, um, GAY.

I would repaint them silver.

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by RX8Lover:
For some reason (I can't put my finger on why), painting the hub makes the wheel look, um, GAY....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks. I gathered that from the last two replies - I think I've got it. The silver paint is on order.

But, I am happy that the rust will be taken care of. I noticed on the 350Z, the rust is not an issue. They have used a coated metal / surface that does not appear to rust. It's the one thing I believe Nissan may have done right with the car.

lol

would black calipers look good on my red 8?

IMO yes

This is what the silver paint (G2) looks like...

looks good

I don't feel like taking off my wheels. I'm not to sure how long it takes for the paint to dry and I'd need more than one jack so I wouldn't need to wait for the paint to dry before starting the next caliper. I guess a brush on paint could be used without taking off the wheels, right?

I vote keep the silver hubs - it matches the wheels - color the calipers.