Painted My Brake Calipers
 

Here are some before and after pics for painting my brake calipers.

Used Duplicor paint, took about 2 hours, was very easy, and they look great!

https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5070...14c38e6f01.jpg

https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5030...930649149d.jpg

https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5027...d6fa548078.jpg

https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5262...fc736437ef.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottv2online/5586665818/

nice job

I like!!! Did you use the aerosol cans or the brush?

my guess is brush based on the tiny spot of red paint on the brake shield :wink:

Nice job!

Looks great!

...Les

Oooo...the critical eye.:grin:

Looks great with those wheels! Looks like it will be a pain go keep them clean.

Yes-brush.

My goal first and foremost was to make them look properly done with the wheels on, then be as thorough as possible on the interior of the calipers. I then decided that as long as the only person that will see the "oops" spots are the tire guy and the brake guy, I could live with a little extra paint.

:nod:

Oh I understand. you should see mine lol. I always glob it onto something accidentally every time I do a touch up lol. Visible parts look good which is all that matters

Sweet looking!! Love the red against the white/black.


To those who are brush painting their calipers: Are you leaving your calipers on when you paint? I have been assuming that I will take mine off before painting, but then I have been assuming that I will spray paint.

By the way, I'm looking for bronze caliper paint, but the closest I'm finding is gold. I'm thinking bronze would go better with the Lt. Coffee/black alloys than gold. Not sure how red would look. Does anyone know of a bronze caliper paint?

Not sure on the bronze.

I think I took my calpers off and set them on a 2X4 standing up so that I wouldnt get paint all over the pads and whatnot. Also helps to get between the caliper and the bracket.

Looks sweet - - - the red really pops with your white Countryman.

G2 will do custom colors. Check their website.

Yes, I have since learned that. I talked with one of the owners, who told me that they will match any automobile paint code, even those out of production.

nice job

Thank you, sir!

:thumbsup:

Kudos! Nice photoset!

I was wondering about painting them just the other day! Wasn't sure if red would go well with Cosmic Blue, but then again Brembo's are usually always red no matter the car color, so why the hell not? :D

Very true.

I considered going black, but decided for a pop of color instead.

I think you can go either way with the Cosmic Blue and be fine.

:thumbsup:

Nice pics :) really match on White/Black

Nice Pics…as well rsbell. Funny we have done many…hundreds probably..for my customers…Think I'd make time to do my own. Guess I'm waiting to find some nicer rims and tires for the summer…would make sense then..I have the Cosmic Blue to Karrock.

So my duplicator got blasted of by my over zealous car detailer using a pressure washer.

Grrrrrr......

For those who have painted their rotors, how clean is "clean enough" before applying the paint? My car has about 80k miles on it, and even with brake parts cleaner and a small stiff bristle-brush, I can't get my calipers looking anything like the "before" picture in the first post.

My first thought is that as long as the loose dirt is gone and the calipers are thoroughly degreased, the residual staining shouldn't be a problem, but I'd hate to be wrong considering that painting the calipers will a) take a while, and b) look like hell if something goes wrong.

rsbell, Looks fantastic!! definitely on my must do list.

I have used the G2 kit on my BMW's in the past and I suggest it to anyone. It had a gloss to it that never seemed to dull. Brake dust didnt seem to be a problem and it never peeled.
The kit has everything you will need. It is a brush on application so you need a steady hand and some painters tape. No tools needed. It would take a few hours and then let the car sit overnight to dry properly. It is nice if you can have all the wheels of at the same time. You can just go from one to the next without having to put the wheel back on while its wet.
The best part is no internet needed to get it. I saw it at Pep Boys last week..

Does anyone have any experience using those caliper covers like:

http://www.iautoauto.com/wp-content/...-201103316.jpg

That is a MINI NO-NO!

Painted the fronts yesterday... Hope to spray the rears next week.
Anyone know where I can purchase just (1) TPMS ? Bought a set for the 19" Nuespeeds.
Need another for the 5th wheel/tire. Seem there sold in sets of 4 only.

Wouldn't having a 5th one confuse the car? Is it smart enough to figure out which is the drive wheel and which is the spare?

Not sure...not that I'm going to carry a 19" wheel/tire set with me. Right now all I have is the original stock 17's that came with it. I could break one of those and use that sensor. The main reason for getting an additional wheel/tire set is to replace an existing one. A week ago a tri-axle dump drifted into my lane and I had to get out of its way and ended up hitting a concrete walk way and dinged up the wheel and sliced the side of the tire. Air pressure is fine and sensors did not activate. But feel better with a new set and use the bruised one as a spare. Guess I could always take the TPMS out from that one and put it in the new set. Run flat would of gone for sure.

What color did you go with?

A deep red ...you could call it. Close to the S on the countryman...or like the red used in motoring.com shown on the top of this page. Used PPG AUE 370 ...a very hard durable top coat we use in a lot of our mfg.,industrial & aerospace finishes. Was going to powder coat them as we've done several for others...just to lazy to pull them all apart. I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Looks very nice..
what would look good with orange?

The G2 paint kit does cutom colors.. Match the orange!

Pure Red.:lol:

I painted mine yesterday. I took the caliper off the rotor, which made it a little easier to get in the small spaces.

https://i40.tinypic.com/2jdwz8.jpg

I did mine in place with the spray, in red, looks great against the mostly black wheels and the astro black bodywork. My 92 GP, the front I did with the brush 2 part mix n go epoxy coat in yellow, many moons ago, they looked very good too but when it came time to do the rears and freshen up the fronts, I just went with the spray. It seems just about as durable, as long as you go with a quality paint.
Now to someones question about super-cleaning, I sprayed the crap outta them with brake-kleen, brushed em all down real well then killed another can of brake-kleen between all four of them for a final pass, and had no adhesion or fish-eye issues whatsoever. I only do mine off the car only when replacing calipers or hardware. Seems just about as good, doesnt hit the backside but nobody can see the backside. :)

I respect the choice to paint your calipers, but I'm just not that ambitious, I guess. The MGP caliper covers were easy to put on, look great, and get lots of compliments! Mine are on a 2012 R60 S. Pics:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i...r/10-26002.jpg
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i...r/10-26004.jpg
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i...r/10-26007.jpg
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i...r/10-26008.jpg

napolean, they look good. my only concern, per se, is what would be the end result if the cover seperated and got jammed between the wheel and caliper while the wheel was turning. i considered then rejected the covers mostly because of this question.

I suppose you could worry about that if you chose to, but the fact that there are no moving parts touching the covers, and the fact that they are very sturdy, I personally don't see how that could happen.

I just don't like the fact that it is posing to be a BBK when all that it really is, is a cover. Seems silly. Not criticizing the choices of others, I just would never spend $200 for covers.