Weekend project: painted calipers, painted engine cover & cross member, plus
 

Painted the calipers on my silver 8 this weekend. I spent most of Friday evening and all day Saturday on this, plus a few other mods. There are several things I figured out as I went that will help others out.

1) The front rotors come off with only two philips screws, but make sure you break them loose before removing any of the calipers. Have someone apply the brakes to hold them from turning.
2) Remove the pads before painting the calipers, just pay attention to were the little clips on the front calipers go. The inside and outside clips are different.
3) Home depot sells 18" pre-taped masking plastic. Run the tape around the wheel well and pull the plastic to the axle. Saves a lot of time and tape. (one roll is plenty).
4) Use a brake cleaner and a new wire brush to clean before painting.
5) If you paint the inside of the rotors because of the rust (another thred on this), use 1/4" pinstrip to make the inside circle. It is easily curved and makes a nice edge.
6) I painted the heat sheild as well, clean the same as calipers and rotors.
7) Save enough paint in the spray can for touch up when your done. You WILL need it. I sprayed the paint into a container then used a brush for the touch up.
8) Take advantage of the car being up on stands and the wheels off for a day. I cleaned the wheel wells, waxed the wheels inside and out, waxed the lug nuts, cleaned under the hood, painted the cross member, did the fog light rewire (very easy), changed the oil and filter, and finally rotated the tires when reinstalled. If I was really organized and thinking, I would have Dawn washed the car for a good clay baring and waxing while the it was in the garage on stands!

The paint I used was Dupli-color engine enamal. It's good for 500 degrees and that should be good (hopefully). I have caplier decals from SHOWOFF. PM him if you want to order them, he stated in several threds that they will last. If you want to paint the on POLAK has a pretty cool method as well. He is selling the masks as well.

I think that is it....here is some pics....

Before shot....

before w/ rotor off...

rear taped off for painting...

finished front....

finished rear...

wheels on....

Painting under the hood...

XcelR8

What a nice job you did. I wish you lived closer to Spokane. I'd hire you to do mine. I'm not very good at this stuff.

Thank you...I think a plane ticket and hotel stay would not make it worth it!!! LOL

XcelR8:

What's that warning label in front of the radiator overflow tank?

Very nice job XCELR8, will do the same on my red8 as soon as i get it. Been waiting since before chrismast for it . Was told last tuesday it was on the train from Vancouver to Montreal. When i will get it i am taking two days off to work on it. Thanks for the tips on the caliper's. A la prochaine.

The warning label was ordered from e-Bay. Do a search for rx8 and it will come up. I just saw them the other day. Looks factory!

Sorry it's sideways. Tried rotation it, but it cut off the edge.

Yeah, riiiiiight Bill. :D

Looks awesome, XcelR8. Nice work.

Very nice work. I did exactly the same, but opposite colors, silver and black on a sunlight silver.

http://www.rx8tristateclub.com/project_rotor.asp

$12 for decals? Thats pretty high!

Looks great. This is probably my next mod project. I was thinking of adding Polak's Mazdaspeed caliper stickers though.

I saw Polak's method after I was done with the painting or I probably would have used it. I will if I have to redo them for any reason. I am expecting the decals anyday and will post a pic with them on.

Here is a pic with the decals on...
They look good, are easy to line up, properly sized for front and rear calipers and have held up for quite a few heat cycles...look like they will last.

rear...

here's mine...haven't done rear yet...maybe this weekend...not the best picture...i used duplicolor(i think) caliper painting kit, available from AutoZone...

Very nice. I heard they were coming out with a kit. I will have to check the kit out. I have a couple of people at work that want their Mustang calipers none.

It worked really well for me. It is a brush on paint, not spray, but that was fine, because it meant I didn't have to do as much taping off/removal of components.

I only had the chance to do one of my calipers last weekend. It looks marvelous. I bought the Duplo caliper kit like ScudRunner. I got mine at Meijers for $15. They only had red and yellow at that time. It is easy to paint on. I didn't do any masking what so ever, I am good at painting only where I want it at. Two coats look very good and I took nothing apart. I am only painting what shows, though. My only concern is the heat resistance, it's only 500 degrees.

Tomorrow, I am taking the day off to finish the other three and I will be posting some pics tomorrow night. Red on my velocity red. No logo though, not yet anyway. :D

I went against the logo, too. This might be blasphemy, but I didn't want to put Mazdaspeed on my calipers when they're not, and I also think the care might already say "RX-8" on it in enough places(especially with my sweet ass sweet brake light mod). Two coats did pretty well on mine, and they're holding up perfectly well after a week of driving. I painted a little beyond just what shows, but I just couldn't stop once I got going. :D

painted mine yellow
 

Did mine last weekend with the G2 Kit. Also took the time to paint the rust prone areas of the rotors and add mud flaps. All told a day ½ up on jacks stands but love the results.

The paint I used was only 500 degrees also. I have 2500 miles on them and no issues with the paint or decals.

Spent the day doing my calipers. I also painted the hubs and added one little thing more...the reason that I didn't paint the logo on it is because I wanted to highlight one other near by thing...

Here is a closer view of my front wheel...

And the rear wheel...

Very cool. I like them body color. I'd paint mine to match the car but they are already silver...lol. They look good red.

That's true, I never thought about the Silvers or the Gray ones. You could always paint them in the color of your RX-8 or Mazda Speed Logo paint, if you have done that to your calipers.

Re: Weekend project: painted calipers, painted engine cover & cross member, plus
 

...
8) Take advantage of the car being up on stands and the wheels off for a day. I cleaned the wheel wells, waxed the wheels inside and out, waxed the lug nuts, cleaned under the hood, painted the cross member, did the fog light rewire (very easy)


Tell me, oh great one, how did you do the fog light re-wiring? Seems like people, including myself, are having difficulties

These are the directions I used orginally posted by Maniac in the Fog Light Rewire thred. You can access the pictures there. I followed these to the letter and it was very easy.

-QUOTE-

I think some may want to wire their fog lamps to be on with the running lights and not just the ignition so that you can leave the fog lamp switch on and they will only come on when you turn on the lighting circuit, but not only with the headlights.
This is how you wire them to be tied to the running lights and unaffected be the presence of the headlamps:

First, open the hood and fuse panel, then unclip and raise the buse block out of the tray:

http://www.mazdamaniac.com/images/rx8/fog/fog_01.jpg

http://www.mazdamaniac.com/images/rx8/fog/fog_02.jpg

Locate the two wires needed to complete the modification - the BROWN fog lamp relay wire and the BLACK and RED tail light fuse wire:

http://www.mazdamaniac.com/images/rx8/fog/fog_03.jpg

http://www.mazdamaniac.com/images/rx8/fog/fog_04.jpg

Cut the BROWN wire about 2 inches from where it loins the harness and strip a small section of the BLACK and RED wire in the middle of its accesible length:

http://www.mazdamaniac.com/images/rx8/fog/fog_05.jpg

Place a small piece of shrink tubing over both parts of the BROWN wire - one to cover the splice that you will create and the other to cover the unused section as it enters the harness:

http://www.mazdamaniac.com/images/rx8/fog/fog_06.jpg

Attach the BROWN wire to the stripped section of the BLACK and RED wire, solder the connection and cover the junction with the shrink tubing. Shrink the two sections of tubing with the heat from the solder gun:

http://www.mazdamaniac.com/images/rx8/fog/fog_07.jpg

http://www.mazdamaniac.com/images/rx8/fog/fog_08.jpg

Here are the two relevant wiring diagrams:

http://www.mazdamaniac.com/images/rx8/fog/fog_09.jpg
http://www.mazdamaniac.com/images/rx8/fog/fog_10.jpg

Now your fog lamps will come on when they are switched on and the lighting selector is set to either the first or second positions.

Links to pictures do work.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by XcelR8
[B]These are the directions I used orginally posted by Maniac in the Fog Light Rewire thred. You can access the pictures there. I followed these to the letter and it was very easy.

You DA MAN!

Winning Blue w/red calipers
 

Does anyone have any pictures of a w Blue car with red calipers?
If so please post.
Thanks
Todd

What would be a good color for titanium 8? Does anybody done calipers painted on titanium 8?

Yeah - I did my Ti with flat black calipers and rotors. Looks pretty sharp in an understated way - kinda like the Titanium.

That should look good...any pics?

Did mine gloss black with red letters. The rotor hubs and edges are painted aluminum. I used Polak's stencils. I've had several people ask me if that was how they came stock. :)

Here's the front.

I need to get the RX-8 logo on mine (in black).

.

Very nice Jason.

I did alright with mine. Your job was cleaner since you took everything apart. All I did was take off the wheels.

I still think the real paint is better than spray paint appliation because of the thickness of the canned paint, and that it smooths out the calipers.

Duplicolor has a metallic purple kit that I would love to see used on the calipers for someone's car... I'd do my own with it, but I haven't gotten up the nerve to try to jack the car yet. :)

...Paul

For those looking to paint their brake calipers, who have never done a spray job in their life, and may screw up the masking. And don't have the tools or facilities to completely take apart their rotors and calipers, I have found a feasable soulution.

1. I bought a can of dupli-color hi-temp spray paint, and went with 1200 degrees, just to be safe (you'd be suprised what temperatures a caliper and rotor can achieve! Not that it would reach 1200 degrees, but well over 500, trust me, look at my occupation)! ;)

2. I have various modeling brushes to apply the paint

3. I got two glass jars (1 for paint, and one for thinner)

4. I removed the wheels, two by two, rear then front, and proceeded to hand paint the calipers, after I removed the dust with a wire brush. I found this method alot easier due to the fact that I have experience painting small scale models. The detail you can achieve is remarkable. I sprayed the paint directly into one of the jars until I had a small amount within and painted from it, I wouldn't even say I used half of the can by the time I was done!

I used a small brush for the large portions and a detailing brush for the minute and hard to reach places. I paited one caliper, then moved to the other side to begin on the other. By the time I finished with the first coat on the second caliper, the paint was dry on the first and ready to recieve a second coat. Just alternate sides to allow the paint to dry and apply as many coats as you feel is necessary.

You can correct any slips with a third brush and the thinner! I'd say it took just as much time to complete the mod as it would if I had removed all four calipers, and all four rotors, about four hours time! No masking, no taping, no overspray, no more paint used than necessary! But... "To each his own"

I didn't paint the rotors yet because my sons mother dropped him off and I had to do a quick clean up, plus I'm not sure what color I want to paint the center of the rotors, but I did finish the calipers!

I'll post pics as soon as I procure a camera suitable enough to take the pictures with (from my dad)! ;)

I did a bit of searching for a friend for a couple of the brush on brake caliper painting kits.

I used a Duplicolor kit to do mine and was very pleased and still am. However, it only comes in 4 colors: red, silver, yellow and black. I have never noticed any deterioration in mine and the temp rating is only 500 degrees F.

Of course the RX-8 comes in more than 4 colors so, I looked a little further and found this G2 brand caliper paint kit from our friends at tirerack.com:
http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/g2/caliper_paint.jsp
They offer red, yellow, blue, silver, gold, black, purple, green and white. (the green is a bit bright for the Nordic Green RX-8s) This kit sells for a bit more but looks very similar to the Duplicolor kits in it's application method. I think the heat rating for this kit is 900 degrees F whereas the heat rating for the Duplicolor kit is 500 degrees F.

The Duplicolor kit retailed for around $19 but I know I bought mine at Meijers for only around $15 so I suggest you look locally before you order off the Internet, pay more plus shipping fees. Normally I do not practice this but this is what I would do.

it's $38 at tirerack. i got it on ebay for $18.99 + $12.99 shipping.