G2 Caliper Paint + Decal "Mazda" (56K warning)
 

Just thought I'd share my new "mod" from my project this weekend. :) It was fairly inexpensive and moderately easy. I used G2 Caliper Paint system in black ($35 eBay), and a can of black caliper paint ($5) for the rotors. A lot of masking and patience, and it turned out okay.

Before, 2 Front and 1 Rear pics:
A Dremel tool helped smooth down the dimples.

After shots, with decals.

Last pics. Two of the rear (After)

Sorry, last one...just washed the car so notice the rust on the rotors :mad:

Damn... You beat me! Looks awesome - I've got the G2 box starring at me right now, in BLACK also... Plus I have PoLak's decals in white....

Great work! This is amusing since I too spent last weekend painting my calipers. It's an inexpensive mod, however it takes time if you want to make it look right. Like you, I wanted something in a decal or lettering to set it off a bit, I dunno I have seen pics of calipers just in full color and although they looked good, it just seemed something was missing. So I originally ordered some of Polak's RX-8 stickers however what I really wanted was the words Mazda or MazdaSpeed in white. If I had known I could get a set of stickers that said "Mazda" I would have been happy. Since I couldn't find any that said what I wanted, I ended up taking the time to sort of make my own stencils from masking tape. I started with the Dupicolor brake caliper paint set in red. My wife helped with this... we ended up coating them like 3 times. Then, I placed my "stencils" and painted over them in white (I got a high temp white engine paint). Did 4 coats of white, allowing about 30mins between coats. I then added 2 coats of high temp clearcoat over the lettering for added protection. Which gave me the idea for anyone adding decals, they might want to try using a high temp clearcoat over the decal to make it last.

Anyway, the result was pretty much what I wanted. The job took longer than I expected but it was worth it. Like an idiot, I painted over some parts I shouldn't have (like the area where the brake pad shims fit in) so I had to sand them back down to let the brake pads slide in freely.

EDIT: OK I just checked Polaks site and sure enough there are MS decals. I dunno why he told me on AIM that he did not make any that said Mazda, etc. I will likely be ordering these ASAP. I'm an idiot. :mad:

Happy Holidays teebee :)

the mazdaspeed caliper looks a little cheasy...sorry man..

LoL.. yeah the wife had some extra holiday paper and used that instead of newspaper.



This coming from someone with a GIGANTIC sig in red with big "X" between mods like "Oil cap" and "license plate frame". :D j/k I wanted Mazdaspeed on there because I am getting the MS kit put on this week and I already have the MS springs/shocks.

I don't mean to highjack but you metiond putting clear coat over the decals and that's what I did but I used "RX-8" your right it works great, I've had them for a year now, no problems. Yours came out good nice job.

Looks Great , very clean job!

hope they stay fresh
I used termal engine paint with a ms decal and have no fading.while others
are constantly painting them over and over.hope your job stays clean and new looking.
p.s I also used some clear coat and always get asked where i got the mazdaspeed brakes from :)
paint at pepboys was 4 dollars and 2 bucks for clear coat

did you guys apply the paint and clear coat with a fine brush..or how was it applied?

i would just use caliper paint (ceramic)..is good up to 500 degrees

Yeah I brushed on the caliper paint with the brush included in the kit. However, the clearcoat comes in a can so I just sprayed some in a plastic paint container and brushed it on.

I did the same and no problems at all that brush on stuff is great

teebee, nice job! The red looks really good!

Polak doesn't make the "Mazda" decals. I had these custom made. Polak does carry the Mazdaspeed decals but only in black. I think he said he'll offer other colors soon. I considered the "Mazdaspeed" decals for a second, but I didn't have anything on my car by Mazdaspeed, so I opted not to. I saw an FD with a similar setup so I kinda copied him :o

Where did you get the caliper deacls? I am assuming they are designed to withstand the high heat?

Teebee,

I plan to do my calipers this weekend. I want to put a coat or two of clearcoat over the RX-8 decal I plan to put on the calipers. Was the clearcoat you mentioned high temp? If so, who made it and where did you get it?

Thanks