Painting calipers

They photograph white but are really silver. I believe they come in black, too.



Fred Baker Audi

440) 232-4700

19400 Rockside Rd.

Bedford, OH 44146



Around $10-12 for 5-6 sets of stickers. I have had mine over a year.:xyxthumbs
 
What would be the danger in using paint that wasn't high temperature paint? I parked next to a guy at work today that had painted his calipers. He said that he just used regular paint and it has been fine for over a year. I've got some paint that I'd like to use but it isn't high temperature paint. If I put a primer on that was high temp and I used a high temp clear coat do you think it would work?
 
I recently (about a month ago) painted my calipers red to contrast the silver wheels and black body. I used regular 'ol enamel, not hi temp. I had read many many too many posts about the benefits of using capliper paint kits, hi-temp paint, etc. etc. I think I spent about $3.50 for a spray can full of Ford Red paint. I spent another couple of bucks on some brake cleaner. Another couple on a fine artists brush.



The calipers turned out wonderfully. From what I read, hi-temp paint must be exposed to high temps for it to properly cure, and most calipers do not see that kind of heat. Since I used a spray paint, it set up pretty quickly. I jacked one side of the car, took off both wheels, and alternated activities between the two. By the time I got to the other wheel, it had dried sufficiently to recoat. I removed one caliper, but did NOT need to. Using the artist brush and spray paint, I was able to paint the calipers very nicely with a little care. In fact, it was easier than having to try to maneuver it with one hand and paint with another.



Long story short.... I do not think hi-temp paint is necessary OR recommended. JMHO.



Jeff
 
That is sort of what I was thinking. I've got some really nifty paint that I think should work very well. :) Thanks for the reply on that. I'm glad you've tried it and know that it works ok. As long as I don't have to worry about it blistering out and flaking off in 2 weeks or something. I'm sure that after a month the paint has been exposed to the hottest temperatures that it will ever see. If its still good after that, then I'm sure I'll be fine. Thanks guy! :xyxthumbs
 
No worries.... the worst that will happen the way I eventually figured is that I have to Dremmel it off. Also, layer it on... I found three coats to be the number.... fills in some of the deper pitting from the casting...looks smoother. Also seems to make the calipers very easy to clean.



One more thing... if you can find an old teacup, put a paper towel with a small hole in it over the top. Spray the paint through the hole...keeps the paint where it should be, and the teacup seemed to be a bit better at holding the paint..... Don't use plastic. The plastic cup I started with didn;t have a bottom when I finished the first spray's worth! :eek:



Anyway, I should have done it sooner, but worried incessantly about it before just doing it. You won't be sorry.



Jeff
 
I'm a little lost on the teacup technique. Could you fill me in a little more? I've got a white car so keeping the paint where its supposed to go is pretty important. :)
 
Plasti-Kote makes caliper paint in spray cans that is about $5 a can. I get it at a local O'reilly's auto parts store. I've used it on two cars, including the yellow calipers on my Jeep and the blue calipers on my son's Prelude. The yellow on the Jeep is close to 2 years old and looks great, even after a Nebraska winter with salt and all. I just wire brushed the calipers and cleaned them with denatured alcohol and a paintbrush, then masked around them and sprayed. I used to do a lot of brake work and have serious doubts about regular paint holding up to the heat/grime conditions on calipers.

Jeep_caliperclose.jpg
 
Spraying paint into a container will inevitably wind up painting something you don't want it to... at least your fingers or maybe the car, as the aerosol propellant drives the paint to the bottom of the cup and then proceeds to carry some of it upward as the power of the spray carries it upward toward the source - your hand on the top of the trigger....



Anyway, just punch a small hole in a paper towel, and stretch the towel across the top of the cup. Hold the towel to the sides of the cup and keep it tight on top of the cup. Point the nozzle through the hole, and spray. Little to no spray will escape, although it will "paint" the towel. Remove the towel and paint away. The porcelain teacup seems to keep the paint relatively fluid for a while.



Just make sure you spray and brush as much brake cleaner on as necessary to clean well. Take a finger and wipe it over the caliper to seee if anything remains. Mine weren't too bad to start, as I make it a point to wash the wheels and such pretty well each week.



Let me know how it works out. You will love it!





DLW - I too thought the longevity of the "regular" temp enamel to be suspect, but I have read many a post about the true Hi-temp paints (like that used to coat headers or exhaust parts) not curing on lower temp applications. I just checked the paint I used, and it is Plasti-Kote fast dry engine enamel, which "resists heat to 500 degrees".



That should handle the temps of the calipers, yet didn't seem to have the apparent trouble of requiring high temps (1000 degees plus) to cure.



I also went in seach of "caliper paint" but was unsuccessful in locating some. I got some strange looks from some of the local auto shops, so I went with the engine variety. Probably very similar.



Jeff :xyxthumbs
 
Black99miata.....your'e right, there is a lot of high temp paint out there that requires curing by some method of heat. My son's Prelude had a header heat shield that we painted with a 1500 degree paint that required baking for an hour at 450 or driving the car for two hours to cure it. We had a great road trip from that one. In the course of working on several projects that have required differnet paints, I've come to be a real label reader. I think that if you read the can labels, any that require "curing" will specify the method needed, so reading the label becomes pretty important before deciding to use the paint. I'm not trying to be a know it all on this, LOL, the reason I've become aware of this is that I painted the header heat shield at about 11:30pm one night, then read the label saying you had to drive the car for a couple of hours for it to cure! Nice night (morning) for a drive!

Prelude_engine_final.jpg
 
So do I drill out the bottom of the cup? I'm trying to understand exactly how this works. I understand the paper towel thing. that's just to keep the paint off my hands.
 
LOL.... Yes, I am a label reader too, and I did read the hi-temp labels b4 I bought it for my calpiers. I went mid-road with the engine paint...seemed to be the "right thing" without spending $40 on specialized paint from Foliatec or something.



BTW, VERY nice work on the Prelude. Lots of hours in that ride, and it shows. I notice you have a L-Vette. There is a real cherry. I always wondered about reliability of those beasts.... or is everything up to snuff to handle all that power. How about throwing a few ponies this way? Although I have had some muscle in the past ('66 327/350 Vette, '72 351 Cleveland Mach 1, etc) the Miata is a real blast to drive in the twisties, and it keeps me out of major trouble with the law, as the power to weight ration is pretty good, but nothing in the league you are in, or what I have had in the past. Occasionally I get to drive my friend's NSX and it is good that it is only occassionally, because that car just screams to be flogged and stomped.



Anyway, I did not mean to hijack this thread. Just wanted to pay a compliment where it was certainly due.



Jeff
 
No... no holes in the cup, just in the paper towel. Spray through the hole. Remove when you finish spraying, then paint the spray paint with a brush. I likes the smooth texture painting with a brush gave.



Jeff
 
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! The light comes on at last! lol Sorry for making that painful. I got it now. Thanks a ton for the tip. :xyxthumbs
 
Has anyone tried using body-colored paint on their calipers? I don't mean you have a red car so you use red paint. I mean, you use the same exact metallic paint you'd use to touch-up your car. I have heard of people doing this but can't remember what they did. I would guess some sort of primer would need to be used to get the paint to stick? Thanks!



How about some pics of that 383 in the Vette?
 
Jngrbrdman said:
I just want that area of the car to look really nice. I want the added stopping power too but its the 'show' part that I'm going for mainly I think.
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did you see how i painted the rotors on my car, painted the hubs and ridge black

2597pic00179-med.jpg




Also, dont expect "added stopping power" from simply changing the rotors. u wont be able to shorten ur overall stopping distance unless u get wider stickier tires. If the stock braking system can lock the tires with your new wider stickier tires, then it wont get much better. Only benefit of bigger rotors is they can absorb more heat and dissipate heat faster (greater surface area), however this will not equate to shorter stopping distance. It will only mean u will have less brake fade which is beneficial in stopping from extremely high speeds and repeated stops(ie racing on the track). I suggest u check out the current car and driver and look at the article they have on brakes. They had a stock subaru WRX and tried several different big brake upgrades on the car and bigger calipers. From 40mph - 0 mph the stock WRX brakes actually stopped shorter than the brembo big brake kit! surprising huh. Check it out.
 
Yup. I saw those pics. They definatly look better than stock. I did that on mine too. (see this thread) Did you say that you had yours done at the dealership? Looks good.



I got that issue today in fact. Looked interesting. I'm going to get new rotors for the looks if nothing else. The whole car just looks too stock. I'm looking at a lowering kit that will drop it maybe just 3/4 of an inch. Not too much. Get the slotted rotors on there and it will be looking at least a little better than stock. And I'll still be able to drive it. :D
 
Jngrbrdman said:
What problems can happen if I don't take the brake pad off? Can't I just mask it? I'm pretty handy under the hood but brakes and suspension always make me nervous. I worry that I won't be able to put them back together.
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I sprayed mine on my '96 Cobra with 500 degree duplicolor semi-gloss black without taking them off. I masked the rotors and other parts that needed to be covered, and blew two coats on, came out mint. Besides if you get a bit on the rotor, just use some reducer and wipe it off...it took me about 10 minutes per rotor....very easy.
 
jngr, ya the dealer did do it. At first they just brushed rustoleum paint on and it got everywhere, on the calipers, rims, etc. So i made them get all the paint off and redo all the rotors. They took the rotors off and sent them to the body shop to be masked and sprayed. The job they did looks very factory and has no orange peel, lol!
 
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