its behind the rotor, sorry cell phone camera pics are low quality

 

thats your dust shield

 

removing it provides much more ventilation to the rotor. removal only necessary for heavy track use.

 

well do people remove it anyway just because it looks like ****? or do they paint it????????

 

You could paint it black or silver and it would look better. I also keeps water from splashing on the rotor. Keeping your brakes dry.

 

I had mine painted. They looked like crap before.

Bob

 

Mine look as ratty as yours. when i / if i redo the brake calipers taking those off as well. not sure if buy new and paint or sand the hell out of the old and paint. either way, stock looks like crap after the first year.

 

MIDLIFER: WOW those look great, how much does it cost to get them painted?

 

Not sure how much it would cost by themselves, I had them done along with the calipers. Everything was taken off and painted when I had the rotors replaced. Also had SS brake lines installed. Ran me $490. I know it's high but they did a real quality job. Nothing I could do myself.

Bob

 

thats a bit pricey, thats jus for the paint, or the brake lines n rotors total

 

That was for everything.

 

that looks so much better. what an upgrade. when i can afford it: upgrade rotors/paint calipers/paint dust shield. nice job

 

The engineers put the backing plate on to DIRECT air over the rotors... I can almost guarantee that you will experience more brake overheating if you take them off. Going through ASE courses etc. has always taught me to LEAVE THOSE ON and to AVOID bending them when doing brake jobs to prevent possible brake overheating. Painting would be your best option to make them look nice and pretty.