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Painted Calipers and Rotors

5K views 27 replies 14 participants last post by  bartz_ghia 
#1 ·
After having some DBA rotors for a few months, I got sick of looking at the surface rust. I cleaned them up and painted them, and also the calipers for the brakes. Just thought I'd pop some pictures up to provide any sort of initiative for lazy people who want to do it. LOL.
 

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#2 ·
The paint cost me about 20 bucks a colour, I think, for some high heat brake caliper stuff.... after cleaning off all the surface rust, a few coats of this did the trick. Although the silver looks very bright there, once they had been on the car for a week, they blend in alot better, and look alright. Also, the brakes cleaned up the join between the painted part of the rotor and the disc, so the join is less obvious. Anyways, might interest some people. Any feedback is most welcome.

Cheers.......... Tim
 

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#3 ·
Nice work! I did the same not long ago and also for the same reason, they rust too fast! I also then bought 18" rims so you could see it even more.

It only took about 4 hours to do all 4 wheels
 
#6 ·
looks good zan!

i do recommend you clear coat it :)

for whoever decides to do it.. i suggest the following

2-3 Coats or HEATPROOF Primer
3-4 Coats of HEATPROOF Colour
2-3 Coats of HEATPROOF Clear or even Normal Clear.

Why so many coats your wondering?

Basically so the paint wont peal ever and wont be able to get chipped as easily as it normally would. And also then least you can use the high pressure hose to clean them without worrying the paint will fly off.

Better doing it that way so if it also DOES ever peal it'll just go back a coat of paint to the colour and not to the caliper or primer. So at least from a distance it'll look good still.

:)

And im sure it'll last way over 2 years as well.
 
#8 ·
#9 ·
rofl.

took me a few hours, 2/3 .. and it was fine cuz my brakes were still nice toasty cuz i had a nice run before i did it lol

paint dried even faster!
 
#10 ·
Cool... should the paint ever have any dramas, I might do all that you've described. It's just a small touch, one of the many small things that makes up a car.

And nak302 - yeah, I did remove the calipers, they and the rotors were off while I made some other front end modifications, so I just did it at the same time. Can't go putting too much effort into it. LOL

Cheers....... Tim
 
#11 ·
Did mine the same colour too, didn't use anything special, just cleaned up the caliper, metal primer, and red staright from a $5 can I had in the shed, had it on for about a month, no signs of it coming off yet. if I only have to do it every 12 months, i'll be happy.

I've also got a metal plate that sits on the rotors. Is this just there to stop brake dust etc? cause it covers 1/2 the caliper from view.

Didn't take mine off, just masked itaround the metal clips in the middle etc.
 
#12 ·
LOL me and my mates made a night out of it a few weeks back...
went to United servo (with a carwash section) and jacked up our cars there... lol
we were spraying the paint into the lid and painting it on with brushes (scared of overspray)... it took me 1 hour each caliper/rotor.. left United at 5:30am
Turned out great though!
i Did mine green.
 
#14 ·
Paint possibly would hold heat in,but still looks good..
Besides we are not pushing our brakes that hard. Are we ???
Cough !!
 
#15 ·
fUSiON said:


Better doing it that way so if it also DOES ever peal it'll just go back a coat of paint to the colour and not to the caliper or primer. So at least from a distance it'll look good still.

:)

And im sure it'll last way over 2 years as well.
That's exactly what happened to my disc rotors after painting them black, I found that they chipped and have began peeling !!
lol

I might do it the way you prescribed next time...

Cheers
JP
 
#16 ·
When I did mine, i heated the discs up first (by using the brakes), then painted the callipers. Once they were touch dry (about 10 mins), I put the whole lot back together and gave the car a flogging, heating the brakes up which baked the paint on. If you do it this way, there is no need to use heatproof paint, Export paint at $2.50 per can from Clints, or Supercheap, works a treat! I've had mine painted for 18 months, and they are still as shiny as the day I painted them, and I use a K'Archer high pressure spray to clean the brake dust off them!
 
#17 ·
Nevermind said:

I've also got a metal plate that sits on the rotors. Is this just there to stop brake dust etc? cause it covers 1/2 the caliper from view.

The the black metal plates that sit between the rim and the wheel hubs are just brake dust covers, take them off. It won't do any harm and looks better without them.
 
#18 ·
clints? LOL

jcv, u have a lot to learn about spraying with cans dude :)

no one uses cheap paint, for that it is CHEAP and CRAP! :)

You DO need to use heatproof paint, why would they make heatproof paint ? for the cold? :p lol
 
#19 ·
fUSiON said:
clints? LOL

jcv, u have a lot to learn about spraying with cans dude :)

no one uses cheap paint, for that it is CHEAP and CRAP! :)

You DO need to use heatproof paint, why would they make heatproof paint ? for the cold? :p lol
But if it works, what does it matter how much it cost? Dude? And you do NOT need to use heatproof paint. They sell it because they can add an extra $5 per can to the price and people think it's great.
 
#20 ·
jcv, i bet you also use the clints $2 cans to wiff up a bit sometimes too eh? :)

seems so! lol :)

they made heatproof paint for those cold windy icey cold days, thats what i think... im pretty sure.. dont know why they'd make a paint to resist high temps on mechanical parts etc.. who knows.. beats me! .. maybe there stupid

theres a saying

if you cant do the job right, dont do it at all :)
 
#23 ·
I don't have a close up of my callipers with the $2 paint - this is the best i can do, but it still looks as good now as when i first did it - the trick is not what paint you use, but how you apply it. Baking it on is the best method!
 

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#24 ·
JCV8,

You are spot on. I used engine paint on mine but a normal paint will do the same job.

Your calipers do not get that hot.
 
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