painting calipers

mcafferty

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anyone paint their calipers? did you remove them to do it? what paint did you use does the paint last or does it look like shat. will the brake fluid take the paint off? thanks, Mac
 
You do this very meticulously or kinda simple.

Easy:

Jack up one side on the car and remove both of the wheels.
Clean the calipers with lacquer thinner.
Mask around calipers and spray on an Oil-Based Polyurethane.
Home Depot sells these about $4 a small can. I believe.
Spray two coats and let sit 40 minutes between sprays.
Throw on wheels, repeat the other side.

Hard:

Jack up one side on the car and remove both of the wheels.
Remove calipers and all hardware, blah blah blah....

This is the more "professional" way, but the easy way can look very nice if you properly clean the calipers.

I did this to a few other cars I had and it really does work rather easy and looks nice.
 
mcafferty said:
anyone paint their calipers? did you remove them to do it? what paint did you use does the paint last or does it look like shat. will the brake fluid take the paint off? thanks, Mac


I just painted mine using Dupicolor's caliper paint kit which was $16 at advance auto parts. For what you get its well worth, I highly recomend it to anyone interested in painting their calipers.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/ohioXKE/DSC00607.jpg

-Scott-
 
I took the easy way out and just shot them without removing them or masking off the pad.

It doesn't look as nice as other's LS's, where their owners took that extra time - things look much sharper and professional.

It didn't help when my 16" winter wheels gouges off the pretty red paint though. Good thing I didn't have them powdercoated.
 
I'm actually doing mine tonight, i'll post pics when its dry!

Btw, im using metalcast andozier from dupli color... I wanted a shiney look to the caliper and my friends have used the caliper paint (which does look good), however I didnt want the flatter color. This was the best option it seemed based on the type of application surface, and high heat temperatures it can withstand.

-DIDJI
 
I did mine over the weekend with the metalcast, i have 62k miles and my calipers where pretty dark. Cleaned with brake parts cleaner, and mineral spirits, and they were still dark. Painted the were pretty dark, but didnt look bad. I sanded a hidden part and it made a HUGE differance (positive), but they also make a special primer for plastic and other surfaces that might work better (ie. easier/faster) then sanding. If your calipers are newer/cleaner then it might not be an issue, other then that the paint goes on easy, but it can run quickly when trying to hit all the nooks and crannies so you may want to do the caliper and wait 5-10 minutes before trying to get the hard to reach spots.
 
I took the easy route and painted them on the car. I masked everything including inside the wheelwell and the fenders. I then use brake cleaner and a good brush to clean the calipers. I think I used 3 coats of red and 2 clear. I think it came out nice.

I was going to get a color to match, but decided to use the standard bright red to stand out and grab attention. It also blends in the huge tail lights so prominent on the older LS models.

Hell, even my mother and father- good folks but vanilla as it gets- LOVED it! After all the years I've modded whatever cars, this was the first time they admitted to liking something on my car!

Only took 20 years worth of hot-rodding.

Oh well.. I love 'em anyway!

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