Duplicolor Caliper Paint
06-21-2009, 02:41 PM
#1
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Duplicolor Caliper Paint
Hey all, I've seen a lot of mention of G2 caliper paint on the forums here and I've not seen any bad reviews of it, but I chose to go with the Duplicolor kit and just finished painting my calipers yesterday, so I thought I'd put my thoughts out there.
The main reason I chose not to use the G2 kit is that its a two part paint, and once you mix the 2 parts together, you have between 4 and 6 hours to use it before it cures in the can too much to use. I don't have the equipment on hand to get this job done in 4 hours (assuming you have to leave the wheels off for a time to let it cure before re-mounting them), so the G2 simply wasn't an option for me.
For about $17 at O'Reilly's, I got a black satin Duplicolor kit - http://www.duplicolor.com/products/caliper.html - and finally got around to painting the calipers. It was pretty much an all day venture, since you have to give the paint 2 hours to cure before you put the wheels back on, so I did it in for separate "sessions" yesterday. It was about 85 out, sunny and breezy, so it was a good day for this project.
The kit includes everything you need ... sort of. It's got brake cleaner, stir stick, 8 oz of paint and a brush. You've also want a toothbrush or something else to scrub off the calipers, and probably another paintbrush or 3, if you're going in stages like me, since letting it dry on the brush for 2 hours pretty much destroys the brush.
One thing I noticed is that when it says to stir the paint for 1 minute, make sure you listen. You can actually feel all the sediment at the bottom of the paint can when you start stirring, so you need to make sure you get everything mixed up right. The paint itself went on very well - I am not an expert painter and I managed to lay down a couple coats that came out pretty smooth. I found 2 coats to be just right for the black, but if you choose some of the lighter colors (like yellow), you may need a 3rd or even 4th, depending on how thick you lay it on. But in my case, I just used two slightly thick coats and I like the way it came out.
The satin black is actually glossier than I thought, but it's also possible that as it cures longer it will lose some of the shine. I went with black because it's a bit different from what other people have used (red seems most popular and the blue wouldn't match my Winning Blue well enough) and I am a bit more subtle. I considered yellow, briefly, but went with black instead.
Unfortunately, my camera is sitting in my office right now so I can't get good pictures up until tomorrow, but I'll be sure to get some tomorrow evening.
Overall, I am very pleased with the Duplicolor kit - if I had access to a lift or more convenient equipment, I would have chosen the G2 kit. But since I don't have that access and had to do things one wheel at a time, the Duplicolor kit was perfect, and it doesn't hurt that it's less than 1/2 the cost of the G2.
I should also note that I have at least enough paint left to do 4 or 6 more calipers, and had I not painted my rear rotor hubs as well, I would probably have enough left over to do 2 more full cars. Again, the black didn't require a 3rd layer either, which helped, but even the other colors should have enough for 2 complete cars.
If anyone else has experience with Duplicolor paint, please let us know, since I wasn't able to find much info on anything but G2.
The main reason I chose not to use the G2 kit is that its a two part paint, and once you mix the 2 parts together, you have between 4 and 6 hours to use it before it cures in the can too much to use. I don't have the equipment on hand to get this job done in 4 hours (assuming you have to leave the wheels off for a time to let it cure before re-mounting them), so the G2 simply wasn't an option for me.
For about $17 at O'Reilly's, I got a black satin Duplicolor kit - http://www.duplicolor.com/products/caliper.html - and finally got around to painting the calipers. It was pretty much an all day venture, since you have to give the paint 2 hours to cure before you put the wheels back on, so I did it in for separate "sessions" yesterday. It was about 85 out, sunny and breezy, so it was a good day for this project.
The kit includes everything you need ... sort of. It's got brake cleaner, stir stick, 8 oz of paint and a brush. You've also want a toothbrush or something else to scrub off the calipers, and probably another paintbrush or 3, if you're going in stages like me, since letting it dry on the brush for 2 hours pretty much destroys the brush.
One thing I noticed is that when it says to stir the paint for 1 minute, make sure you listen. You can actually feel all the sediment at the bottom of the paint can when you start stirring, so you need to make sure you get everything mixed up right. The paint itself went on very well - I am not an expert painter and I managed to lay down a couple coats that came out pretty smooth. I found 2 coats to be just right for the black, but if you choose some of the lighter colors (like yellow), you may need a 3rd or even 4th, depending on how thick you lay it on. But in my case, I just used two slightly thick coats and I like the way it came out.
The satin black is actually glossier than I thought, but it's also possible that as it cures longer it will lose some of the shine. I went with black because it's a bit different from what other people have used (red seems most popular and the blue wouldn't match my Winning Blue well enough) and I am a bit more subtle. I considered yellow, briefly, but went with black instead.
Unfortunately, my camera is sitting in my office right now so I can't get good pictures up until tomorrow, but I'll be sure to get some tomorrow evening.
Overall, I am very pleased with the Duplicolor kit - if I had access to a lift or more convenient equipment, I would have chosen the G2 kit. But since I don't have that access and had to do things one wheel at a time, the Duplicolor kit was perfect, and it doesn't hurt that it's less than 1/2 the cost of the G2.
I should also note that I have at least enough paint left to do 4 or 6 more calipers, and had I not painted my rear rotor hubs as well, I would probably have enough left over to do 2 more full cars. Again, the black didn't require a 3rd layer either, which helped, but even the other colors should have enough for 2 complete cars.
If anyone else has experience with Duplicolor paint, please let us know, since I wasn't able to find much info on anything but G2.
Last edited by YeahYeahYouWere; 06-21-2009 at 02:46 PM.
06-21-2009, 03:55 PM
#2
I used Duplicolor High Temp paint. It turned out fine.
The difference in DupliColor and the G2 kit is that the G2 is actually a kit. It comes with the primer, the cleaner, and the paint.
Just buy a can of brake cleaner, spray it on the caliper, wipe it down, and use the DupliColor High Temp. I didn't even bother to use primer on it; I did 4 coats of DupliColor High Temp paint and it came out great.
No chips and held up great for two years.
The difference in DupliColor and the G2 kit is that the G2 is actually a kit. It comes with the primer, the cleaner, and the paint.
Just buy a can of brake cleaner, spray it on the caliper, wipe it down, and use the DupliColor High Temp. I didn't even bother to use primer on it; I did 4 coats of DupliColor High Temp paint and it came out great.
No chips and held up great for two years.
06-23-2009, 05:42 PM
#6
It's a Cavalier
I don't know... the black is a little too blingy for me.
Need to tone that down. Does Duplicolor or G2 come in invisible color?
Dude. I'd do at least a Mazdaspeed stencil or somthing. You have nice looking wheels with slotted rotors. I think you can pull of a little high style on the calipers and not have it look bad.
Need to tone that down. Does Duplicolor or G2 come in invisible color?
Dude. I'd do at least a Mazdaspeed stencil or somthing. You have nice looking wheels with slotted rotors. I think you can pull of a little high style on the calipers and not have it look bad.
06-23-2009, 05:50 PM
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Funny, my duplicolor kit came with cleaner, paint, gloves, stir stick...............all that stuff. Oh, and "yes", you do need to stir it often.
Mine has held up fine over three years.
Mine has held up fine over three years.
Last edited by Mazurfer; 06-23-2009 at 05:55 PM.
06-23-2009, 06:17 PM
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Yeah, I have to say I am a tad disappointed with the finish. My main goal was to get rid of the cast iron look and keep the focus on the wheels, and mission accomplished there, but the overall finish is just OK. I was hoping the satin black would be a more matte finish than that, I think that would have been a good look. But, alas, it's glossy and it looks OK - maybe I will hit up Polak for some decals.
I contemplated yellow, but I wasn't totally sold on it. And the black was nice because it didn't require a lot of precision painting. Maybe some time in the future I'll put all the pieces off and paint them, but for now, I'll stick with the black.
I contemplated yellow, but I wasn't totally sold on it. And the black was nice because it didn't require a lot of precision painting. Maybe some time in the future I'll put all the pieces off and paint them, but for now, I'll stick with the black.
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