Painting my calipers any advice?

[sean197RB]

I am going to paint my brake calipers on saturday never done it before.Any 1 got any tips or advice thanks

 

[Ed...]

dont......... lol get them powder coated instead. unless u are a dab hand at spraying.

problem is u wont get a lacquer that resists the temperature and itll just end up flaking all the time. if the lacquer is in the paint it can go blotchy. any dirt on the caliper will turn into a lump and its not like u can flat it off easily and re polish it up

thats just MO anyways see wot ppl say

 

[gazb197]

I bought a couple of them thing you use for washing up, sponge on one side and like a wire wool on the other. I got the caliper paint from halfords (think it was £9) and a decent brush so the hairs didnt fall out.

I cleaned the calipers really really well, then just put the paint on in thin layers allowing for each layer to dry. I bought some new brembo stickers and put them on.

Looking at the calipers closely you would never know they'd been painted, there really smooth. Just make sure you dont put the paint on too think , if it runs theres nothing you can do and it looks awful!

Hope this helps

 

[mark_1873]

Some Calliper Paint or Hammerite will do.

 

[clairemae]

cleaned mine with a wire brush then used some hammerite to paint them, they came out pretty good.

 

[Not a Diesel!!!]

Always done mine with hammerite in the past & made a cracking job.

That was always on rusty steel ones though. Dont know if I would be so happy on the Brembo's though?

 

[Ed...]

probably cost £30 - 40 a caliper tops for a job that has 12 months guarantee and looks the bees knees.

 

[racer2011]

cleaned mine with a wire brush then used some hammerite to paint them, they came out pretty good.

I am thinking of painting my calipers red. I am thinking of getting Hammerite.

Do I sand off the original silver paint first with some sand paper and then clean them all with a wire brush, prior to putting the red hammerite paint on?

 

[Black-hawk]

I did mine last week, i used a coarse (red) scotch pad to prep the calipers , blew all the dust off with compresed air, carefully masked up anything that was'nt to be painted, used a mild solvent degreaser to clean the caliper, applied a coat of 1k acid etch primer (spray can), after 5 mins applied 2 coats of bright red plasticoat (spray can), leave for 1/2hr and demask, after a few hrs you can re-apply the new Brembo stickers job done, i've painted a few sets of calipers without issue;

 

[Black-hawk]

I am thinking of painting my calipers red. I am thinking of getting Hammerite.

Do I sand off the original silver paint first with some sand paper and then clean them all with a wire brush, prior to putting the red hammerite paint on?

If your talking about brembo's, mine wer'nt painted, their cast

 

[BenW]

Your results look good but you only left 5 mins after applying primer??? That can cause a lot of problems, the primer needs 24 hours to fully dry or you can find you get bubbles coming through the top coat when it does fully dry.

A layer of laquer over the brembo stickers would also be good to keep it all protected.

 

[Black-hawk]

:001_rolleyes:

Your results look good but you only left 5 mins after applying primer??? That can cause a lot of problems, the primer needs 24 hours to fully dry or you can find you get bubbles coming through the top coat when it does fully dry.

A layer of laquer over the brembo stickers would also be good to keep it all protected.

Well you learn somthing new everyday, and after working in a bodyshop for 20yrs i thought i knew it all, i'll have to get intouch with u-pol for a data sheet cos i could have sworn their 1k acid8 primer had a 5min flash off/recoat time:001_unsure::001_rolleyes: if you leave a non sand primer flash off longer than recomended usually circa 20mins you'll have adhession issues and even a high build primer will air dry sufficiently to flat and apply topcoat in a few hrs, as said i've been doing this for 20yrs, allways done things correctly and never had any issues roud: and by applying a 1k clear to the callipers is unnesisary as for 1, your applying an un nesesary product as the colour coat used was a direct gloss product (unless a basecoat colour is used), 2, if a good quality vinyl is used for the stickers they'll last for years, 3, most 1k clear coat/lacquers will actually reduce the gloss level of the finished panel (calliper) and even give a matt finish in some cases.

 

[BenW]

Is the U-pol different to most primers? Whenever I've read instructions on the back of primer aerosols it's said leave it 24 hours before putting the top coat on?

I was only saying from my experience, obviously you have a lot more experience and are using different paints

 

[Black-hawk]

Is the U-pol different to most primers? Whenever I've read instructions on the back of primer aerosols it's said leave it 24 hours before putting the top coat on?

I was only saying from my experience, obviously you have a lot more experience and are using different paints

Sounds like your using cellulose, the proffesional trade has moved on and i've not used celly in 20yrs, you just need an acid etch primer for this application as no repair has been carried out and no build is required.

 

[brightside]

I was just gonna hammerite mine. How ive done all of the calipers ive had on all car's lol

I once painted a set (on an old saxo.....)hammerite blue, waited about 10minutes before I had to go out in the car lol, and it seemed fine.

I wouldnt recommend waiting that short a time though. lol

 

[BenW]

Sounds like your using cellulose, the proffesional trade has moved on and i've not used celly in 20yrs, you just need an acid etch primer for this application as no repair has been carried out and no build is required.

Cheers for the tip

 

[Black-hawk]

Glad to be of assistance:thumbup1:.