Question about painting brake calipers
 

For those of you who have done it:

-Did you use a spray can or did you brush the paint on?

- I went to Auto Zone today for brake caliper paint and they have both...


Leaning towards spraying (because it seems easier) but wanted to see what you guys / gals are doing.


thanks

G2 brush on.

Spilled some brake fluid on them and it didn't damge the finish at all.

Yeah, G2 brush on here, too. Seems to be holding up well, but there are a few small spots I apparently didn't get quite clean enough and the paint is chipping off. So biggest thing is getting them clean no matter which paint you use. I will be touching them up eventually.

I will echo Go48, cleaning is the important part. I used the brush on. Seemed much easier than taping everything up and waiting for a windless day. Put three coats on and still have enough left over to do my RX-7. It seems to be a nice thick paint that goes on well and dries quick.

I used the G2 brush on....good stuff....easy to work with...no mess
looks really nice when finished :D

I used Dura-color brush on. It seemed to easy to overspray and get it on the car. The brush on went very smooth, and final touchup is easy. The biggest thing is to get the calipers clean, very clean, but other then that, it went pretty good. All 4 calipurs on a sat afternoon.

I'll ditto everyone else. I used the dura-color brush-on and it came out great. I didn't have to clean too much as the car only had a 1000 miles on it, but cleaning is the most important thing. I still used a can of brake cleaner with a steel brush and then a tooth brush before I wiped them down just to make sure. I did my car and my neighbor's mustang and still have half a can left over.

Where did you guys get the paint from?

jskup: thanks for the advice on how to clean those things.

Any other cool tricks for cleaning the calipers? (since this seems to be the most important part)

Duplicolor brush-on. Got it at Napa. Wish id known how to take the pads off b4 i did it!!

Clean with a wire brush and the supplied brake cleaner spray. Just use the whole can of spray, not worth trying to be frugal.

The first coat seems icky, it seems to soak in and the tendency is to glop it on. Just be patient and know that the 2nd and 3rd coats will glide on much easier. Also, spend a couple bucks at a hobby store and get some better brushes (get a few of em). The paint seems to dry on the brush a bit and then its just messy. Its a crappy brush anyway. Nothing like painting with a broom!

POST PICS when done!!! :D (red is best ;))

I didn't paint the calipers for my rx8 yet. But I painted on my other car using DupliColor High Heat spray can. It's fast, easy and very durable too :)

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/attac...id=19382&stc=1

G2 brush on comes in a kit also with spray cleaner for the calipers....ditto reds on those freakin brushes....they look like a wisk broom....yikes
I think I got the kit from mazdaparts.com

I got my G2 from tirerack.com

I spray painted my hubs and calipers last weekend, using Dupli-Color's High Performance Wheel Coating on the hubs and Dupli-Color's Metalcast anodized surface color system (metallic ground coat topped with the blue anodized color) on the calipers. The Metalcast paint system is heat resistant to 500 degrees. The body color of my RX8 is Whitewater Pearl.

The process was time consuming, as I removed the caliper assemblies from the front & rear wheel assemblies, leaving the brake lines attached. The end result, IMO, turned out quite exceptional.

On the calipers, I prepped with brake cleaner, wire brushed and did an alcohol wipe-down cleaning of all surfaces. I then masked off all areas not receiving the paint system, applied an etching primer, applied two coats of the Metalcast ground coat, and three light coats of the Metalcast blue paint. It took about four (4) hours for each wheel due to the prepping done and the set up time between the various coats of paint.

Hey Jorge, from my experience, Brush-on is indeed much better. Spray is quicker, but it also could be messier. My friend and I did spray can and brush, and brush seems more glossy and even. Used Duplicolor brush-on from local autozone.

Jedi54 - Lesper4 (me) Kwescott, Speeddemon32 (the rotorulation group) we all used VHT caliper paint, spray on. You can toke a look at our calipers at our next meet in San Berdo if you like. It was pretty easy and is holding up so far.

Went to my local Kragen and purchased the Duplicolor brush-on paint.

Do I REALLY have to wait 24 hours for them to completely dry off?? (that's what box says)

I'll be painting them on Sunday so I'll make sure to post pics.

yes 24 hours MINIMUM! (if it is cold you need more time)


as for spraying...FORGET IT! overspray is a pain...you cannot avoid it, oh yes you can nevermind you can avoid it by using a brush :p

as for the guy who used andonized metallic cast...that stuff will burn off in two months is my guys...you've got to go ceramic

duplicolor is good...G2 is better :D

good luck Jedi!

damn, off to find a Napa Auto parts store for this G2 stuff...

1 box should do the trick for all 4 calipers, right?

Yeah, but you might as well do the rotors while you're at it so get 2 boxes.

True...everyone is entitled to his/her opinion on the issue, and I respect what you have to say on this matter. However, overspray is no more of a pain, when proper set-up and protection is utilized, than dealing with the cons of painting with a brush and an open can of paint. If one is just satisfied with a "brushed" finish, which I am not, so be it. Personally, I prefer the more professional look of a spray application finish on all of my projects and I am willing to go the extra effort for the preparation and precautions to achieve those results.

With respect to the use of the anodized Metalcast system, I considered the ceramic paint materials. However, I liked the looks of the anodized paint system. I did my research before deciding on using the Metalcast system (which included talking with Dupli-Color's technical department) and the Metalcast system is recommended for application on brake calipers. Like in any paint application, brushed or sprayed, the ultimate quality and/or endurance of the finished product relies heavily on one's preparation of the substrates and adhering to the manufacturer's application requirements.

Aside from the regualr driving that I intend to do, I am also planning on a track day within the next couple of months. I will let you know if you quessed correctly that the stuff burned off.

Respectfully submitted,
Pletchrx8

cool :) didn't mean to ruffle feathers, sorry

especially since the work you did looks sooo good

hey jedi, napa only has duplicolor (iirc) no g2. and yes, wait the 24 hours. all the time/effort you put into doing it, dont screw it up just by wanting to drive right away.

i could only do two wheels at a time ... i split it between two weekends. it takes patience and a lot of good music in the garage!!! :D good luck!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/rsd428/SD12.jpg

^ woah! sorry, i dint know that pic was going to appear so HUGE!!!

Did you get a sticker to put on there? I noticed it says RX-8 on there over the yellow paint...

Wow, this is one time consuming mod...

Been at it for about 5 hours and we're just finishing up the 3rd coats.

I lucked out and got 2 friends to help with the process. We put the car up on stands and attacked all 4 tires at once.

I'll update as soon as we're all done and have the tires back on.

Hmmm, what to do while the paint is drying....MARGARITAS! :beer: