Painting brake calipers

Anonymous · January 23, 2004, 20:13

Right, I've gone out today and brought all the gear I need: One tin of Halfords red Brake Caliper paint, two 12mm brushes, two fine detail brushes, and a roll of masking tape.

All being well (and dry mostly s:wink: :wink: s:wink: ), I'll do this tomorrow; but before I do, is there anything I need to be careful of, or make sure I do/don't paint? Never done anything like this before, y'see... Hell, I don't even paint around the house! s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Ta!

Anonymous · January 23, 2004, 20:21

yeah if its raining and cold like tonight dont do it, the paint wont dry properly.
if you go ahead cover your brake discs with a cloth just in case of spillage.just take your time and dont rush it.
its a really easy and simply mod to do.

Anonymous · January 23, 2004, 20:30

dont paint the bleed nipples (rubber caps) also take a look at what you can see through the wheel before you go ahead and paint loads that you wont even see after all your hard work

use a rag or piece of board under the car if your painting on your own drive as you bound to drop a few drops s;-) ;-) s;-)

I find it easier to paint the fiddly bits first with the small brush and then do the bulk areas in one hit, you dont get any dry edges then on the large areas.

as said easy mod and makes a lot of diff :-) :-) :-)

Anonymous · January 23, 2004, 21:32

make sure you clean the caliper well before tho and leave all the claliper cleaner to dry !

also try and mix the paint thick as it makes it easier to put on s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Slacey · January 24, 2004, 09:20

One last tip... if you are taking a wheel off, painting, then putting that wheel back on before moving to the next, put a rag in the bottom of the wheel you have just done in case any paint drips off (the wheels I bought had red paint blodges on them where the previous owner had painted the callipers and let paint drip all over the rims s:roll: :roll: s:roll: ).

Anonymous · January 25, 2004, 00:34

Cheers for all the help guys!

I didn't get round to doing it today as I was rehearsing with my band, but tomorrow is looking good (as long as it don't get too cold...

Anonymous · January 25, 2004, 15:17

For the non technical amoungst us, I had mine painted by a bodyshop for £50 s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Anonymous · March 19, 2004, 20:27

Hi ekona

How did you brake caliper painting go?

I'm thinking of doing this. Was it as simple as suggested?

Would the Halfords red caliper paint work with a red 2?

Anonymous · March 19, 2004, 21:13

Haven't actually got round to doing this yet... s:oops: :oops: s:oops: TBH, it's been too windy, and I don't want to end up with snot trails everywhere!

I might do it tomorrow (haven't I said that before?! s:lol: :lol: s:lol: ) after I put the new stereo in, or even Sunday: it's supposed to be nice and sunny then.

I think the Halfords paint would be ok, but I haven't got a red '2 to hand to check the match exactly. The best way to be to find someone who has done it with the same paint, or go into Halfords and pop a tin open to see for yourself.

Slacey · March 19, 2004, 23:35

Look for pics of my wheels on here Dave, mine are painted in Halfords red.

Anonymous · March 20, 2004, 17:57

Quote from: "roadsterman99"Hi ekona

How did you brake caliper painting go?

I'm thinking of doing this. Was it as simple as suggested?

Would the Halfords red caliper paint work with a red 2?

Roadsterman,

Here you go - you decide if you think that they work on a red '2 s:)

s:)

I only painted the actual middle part though to try & leave a contrast (that's my story & i'm stickin' to it s:D

s:D )

Anonymous · March 20, 2004, 18:12

Need to get those discs changed, go see Mr. T.

Anonymous · March 20, 2004, 18:22

Quote from: "cartell"Need to get those discs changed, go see Mr. T.

Yea, just been reading the other thread about that - the wheels are bubbling as well so I really need to get those changed before the warranty expires in Sept.

I thought the calipers looked dull in the photo's so just been out & checked - They are dirty s:oops: :oops: s:oops: s:oops: :oops: s:oops: s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

Anonymous · March 20, 2004, 19:09

Roadblade

You have convinced me. I'll wait for the better weather and then do it. I like your sticker also, where do get them s:?: :?: s:?:

My 2 is only 2 1/2 months old and I can see rust developing on disc's.

I'll probably wait til 10K service and then mention it.

Anonymous · March 20, 2004, 20:00

I think I am going to find some body shop somewhere to do mine. I am fine with photoshop, but not so good with a real brush - no history tool s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Anonymous · March 20, 2004, 23:12

Quote from: "roadsterman99"Roadblade

You have convinced me. I'll wait for the better weather and then do it. I like your sticker also, where do get them s:?: :?: s:?:

I got mine from Jap GT300, he had a few left, if not, try here:

m http://www.mr2roc.org/forum/viewtopic.p ... per+decals m

Good luck

loadswine · March 20, 2004, 23:30

s:? :? s:? Those look good in red,I will do mine that colour as soon as I can.Also I think I'll have to do the hubs and the edges of the discs,as they are all rusty. Just got my 2 and its out of warranty,no help from MrT here!
he hubs and outer edge of the disc I was thinking about doing in silver as too much red might be a bit OTT even on a silver car.

markiii · March 21, 2004, 00:52

definately silver.

red hubs would look far to nova boy IMHO

Tem · March 21, 2004, 09:07

Quote from: "markiii"definately silver

JMHO, but silver does look great on a red car. Mine's silver and it doesn't really draw any attention, just the way I like it. Just makes them look clean and rustfree.

And while you're there, paint the discs with silver as well. Makes them look a lot better as well and helps to prevent rusting. Probably needless to say, but do NOT paint the brake pad contact area, just the outer and inner edges s8)

s8)

Anonymous · March 21, 2004, 11:09

bit of a merging of posts but 'hopefully' i am going to get new disks fitted to my car on account of the rust.

do you lot reckon i should paint the new ones to try and stop them from rusting up again or just take them back each year?

Tem · March 21, 2004, 13:12

Quote from: "adz648"do you lot reckon i should paint the new ones to try and stop them from rusting up again or just take them back each year?

Why not cure the problem and make them look better at the same time? s8)

s8) You'll run out of warranty on some day anyway, better experiment in trying to find a good paint while the warranty still covers wrong choices s;)

s;)

Anonymous · May 31, 2004, 19:13

Time to dig up this old thread and put it to rest...

Four months and eight days after I brought the paint and brushes, I've finally got round to painting my calipers! Yes yes, I'm a lazy sod...!

Took me about 3 hours, which is longer than I thought it would, but I'm really chuffed with the end result: it looks superb! I really didn't think it would make that much difference, but when Mr Sun pops his head out and beams down upon my beloved car, it's truly a beautiful thing.

Once again, cheers for all the info guys, it made my job a lot easier! s:D

s:D

dancarbon · June 1, 2004, 13:46

Quote from: "ekona"Four months and eight days after I brought the paint and brushes, I've finally got round to painting my calipers! Yes yes, I'm a lazy sod...!

s:oops: :oops: s:oops: A box of caliper paint has been sat in my garage for nearly a year now, you can't rush these things s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Anonymous · June 3, 2004, 17:37

I must admit I bought soem about three months after I bought my car (car in Feb 02, paint/brushes etc May 02), and I haven't got round to it yet s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

I think I'll probably pass the paint on with the car if I ever sell it!!

Just too lazy by half!!

Anonymous · June 18, 2004, 14:28

Right,

My first ever mod of any sort - caliper painting. My set arrived today, but toyota are changing my alloys next week so might leave it untill after that (Do you reckon they'll complain about the painted calipers ffecting my warrenty?).

I've read how poeple have done this in the past - my only question is:

is it worth taking the calipers off the wheel first, or leaving them on?