brake caliper refinishing

[wolds]

I'm in the process of going through the brakes on my 83SC. I've got everything apart and getting ready to send my backing plates, e brake and misc nuts and bolts off to get zinc plated and was wondering what if any finish would have been on the calipers themselves. I was going to just clean them up and give them a coat of VHT caliper primer and color, but then thought that I could get them zinced also. Any thoughts?

[89PS911]

If you are going that far, you should have your calipers rebuilt if you have not done that already. I sent mine last winter to Eric at PMB Performance (pmbperformance.com). They came back completely rebuilt and coated in a dull gold finish. They look fantastic and operate the same (with the new rotors, pads, pins, clips, and stainless lines that I installed).

[Doug Smith]

Since you're the do-it-yourselfer type, go to Caswell Plating (Plating Kits Electroplating Kits Aluminum Anodizing Kits Powder Coating Systems Metal Polishing And Buffing Supplies - Caswell Inc) and look at some of the coating options available there. Even if you decide to spray them with VHT, you'll still see many things on their website that you'd like to have.

[wolds]

Good point. I don't have a problem separating the caliper halves. I don't think the caliper rebuild kits come with the orings that go between the caliper halves so I would need to find them.

[gregwils]

There different view points on separating the halves. I personally would not as the haves can be challenging to seal and it is't necessary to rebuild the pistons. Also, Porsche recommends not splitting. If you get a rebuild kit, it will only include piston seals and boots, you would need to source caliper half seals elsewhere.

I sprayed mine with caliper paint a few years ago. They looked fine, but it would be something you would need to repeat periodically if appearance is important.

[moneymanager]

Any rattle can will produce an acceptable finish that will last for an amazingly long time, even if you race and really use your brakes. Krylon, Rust Oleum, they all work great unless you're someone who is hyper-demanding, i.e. polishes his valve caps every week. And you can have any color you want!

[wolds]

Thanks for the info, I'll probably go the VHT route as I already have a can of cast aluminum.

[wolds]

Greg brought up the concern about or need to split the calipers. Have others found the same issue with getting them to seal properly? I have contacted yellow zinc plating in New Jersey to take care of the plating. I don't want to open a can of worms here, but I want to do the job right.

Warren

[moneymanager]

You'll get a lot of views but I can't imagine what you gain by opening the caliper, UNLESS you are plating. What is inside that won't be removed by a bit of solvent? Correction: I see you are plating not painting. Ignore this.

[47silver]

i split mine.
You need the special socket to take them apart,, it is not a torx.
You get the seals from a porsche dealer.
they went together without any problems 2 years ago.

[Fishcop]

If you're sending things to plater, include the calipers! Paint just doesn't look right and you've come this far. Zinc with a gold passivate finish was OEM. I did it all at home using a Caswell kit with some help from Eric (PMB) - he stocks the seals so you can safely split the caliper halves (they're cheap).





If you do a search for PMB here on the board you'll see some great results as well as a "how to" Youtube video.

[DaveA]

Porsche Parts shows the seals to be P.N. 90135192810. Pelican stocks them, see P. N.
901-351-928-10-M33 and 901-351-928-10-OEM.

R/Dave

[PorscheGAL]

Fishcop, that is a great job with the plating. I'm still working on the process and maybe one day be at that level.

PMB did mine.

Before with worn caliper paint.


After

[Brian 162]

Here is my caliper re-finishing. I used VHT (Dupli-Colour) semi gloss spray paint. I painted them last year and so far the paint has held up.

[bigel]

Originally Posted by PorscheGAL

I especially like the blue powder coat on your fingernails...

But seriously, I love those before and after shots; it's just amazing to see the improvement side by side when the refinishing is complete.

[Jcslocum]

I just ordered kits for my 3.2 front calipers and they include the seals. Cost was about 16.50 each. A real deal from an excellent guy. You do need a special bit to hold the bolts.mits called a Ribe bit

[wolds]

That settles it, I split the calipers and send everything off to New Jersey. So, lets see here. My wheels went to Harvey W on the west coast, my dashpad went to Classic 9 up North and these parts go to the east coast. Now I just need something heading south and I'll be set .

[80-911SC]

Originally Posted by wolds

That settles it, I split the calipers and send everything off to New Jersey. So, lets see here. My wheels went to Harvey W on the west coast, my dashpad went to Classic 9 up North and these parts go to the east coast. Now I just need something heading south and I'll be set .

sonjay is in florida .. you could send him your deck lid and get a proper fitting duck for yourself ... plus you would get that south thing done ..........

[wolds]

Thought I'd post some pictures of the final product. Assembly went well, just followed Eric at PMB's video. Finished them off by dusting them with a little VHT clear gloss caliper paint. They're gonna look good viewed through the Fuch's that Harvey W. is refinishing for me.

[Andy911sc]

Did mine myself