painting brake calipers

SLR · SLR's Garage

I'm fitting new rotters and pads so thinking of painting the calipers at the same time.
But don't want to remove the brake lines. so is it posable to wire brush and paint? in place. 5 just don't have the time to do a proper job this time round.

thanks Steve.

shadowjack1 · shadowjack1's Garage

Sure you can. Just mask everything in the area and spray away

nineball · 06:12 PM

easy to do with everything in place. here are some shots of when i did it to a jag i used to have. the system i used was a 2 part epoxy paint that just brushed on. took 3 coats but by the time i was done with each coat on the 4th caliper the first one was ready for another coat. the first 2 coats bubbled up a bit, which is the way it should, so it needed 3 coats to be perfect.

SLR · SLR's Garage

Thanks ,
I new it must be posable somehow, but needed to get the idea.

Steve.

michael lang · michael lang's Garage

You know you could do it that way and I am sure it would be fine but if you are going to go through all that trouble you might as well take the time to unbolt the caliper and clean it thoroughly before painting. I get the part about breaking the line free. It is such a pain in the ass to go through all that. I made a tool to cap off the line by using a brake line fitting and welding on a big wing nut while closing up the hole in the center. That way I can keep the brake system sealed up for as long as I want to. I made two of them so I can do both sides of each end at the same time since I rebuild the calipers during the off season.

SpeedracerIndy · 07-22-2012, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michael lang

You know you could do it that way and I am sure it would be fine but if you are going to go through all that trouble you might as well take the time to unbolt the caliper and clean it thoroughly before painting. I get the part about breaking the line free. It is such a pain in the ass to go through all that. I made a tool to cap off the line by using a brake line fitting and welding on a big wing nut while closing up the hole in the center. That way I can keep the brake system sealed up for as long as I want to. I made two of them so I can do both sides of each end at the same time since I rebuild the calipers during the off season.

Agree on taking the calipers off to do it right. Otherwise I almost guarantee it will start chipping.

To keep the brake fluid from leaking out, just push the brake pedal in about half way. I do that all the time when I pull the calipers off. And I've pulled my calipers off a lot lately...

A good cleaning is all I ever do to the calipers on my 911. I'm not a fan of painted calipers though unless you have real brakes that deserve to be shown off, like brembos. Just my opinion...

nineball · 07-22-2012, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpeedracerIndy

Agree on taking the calipers off to do it right. Otherwise I almost guarantee it will start chipping.

not if you use a quality product. those calipers still looked exactly as they did in the pics 4 years later when i sold the car. i was quite amazed as i thought the same thing, but that epoxy paint held up to everything. a little water and a soft cloth and they looked brand new every time i washed the car.

jager911 · 07-22-2012, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nineball

easy to do with everything in place. here are some shots of when i did it to a jag i used to have. the system i used was a 2 part epoxy paint that just brushed on. took 3 coats but by the time i was done with each coat on the 4th caliper the first one was ready for another coat. the first 2 coats bubbled up a bit, which is the way it should, so it needed 3 coats to be perfect.

I have the same paint waiting to do my Big Reds, did you end up using all the paint on 4 calipers? I assume the paint has a shelf life due to the hardener? I have 2 cars to do so wondering if you used all the paint up.

nineball · 07-22-2012, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jager911

I have the same paint waiting to do my Big Reds, did you end up using all the paint on 4 calipers? I assume the paint has a shelf life due to the hardener? I have 2 cars to do so wondering if you used all the paint up.

it's been quite some time but if memory serves it took half, maybe a little more to do my 4. yes once the paint parts are mixed it's use it or lose it, so if you want to do 2 cars have them both prepped and ready to go at the same time. the first coat took the most and the second and third used less as you went.

jager911 · 07-22-2012, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nineball

it's been quite some time but if memory serves it took half, maybe a little more to do my 4. yes once the paint parts are mixed it's use it or lose it, so if you want to do 2 cars have them both prepped and ready to go at the same time. the first coat took the most and the second and third used less as you went.

My calipers were already painted, not stripping, just planning to sand them to rough up the surface so it will take less. I may transfer 1/2 the paint to another container and use 1/2 the hardener.

nineball · 07-22-2012, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jager911

My calipers were already painted, not stripping, just planning to sand them to rough up the surface so it will take less. I may transfer 1/2 the paint to another container and use 1/2 the hardener.

not sure if you can do that or not but good luck. read the directions carefully, i seem to remember something about the paint working best if it is applied to bare metal (i.e. not a pre-painted caliper) but i could be wrong.