Painting brake calipers

[papperbear]

I want to paint my brake calipers, so I need to ask some questions first.  Can I be lazy and just removed the wheel and paint the calipers whilst they are still attached or do I have to removed them completely?

 

[Len]

Dont be so lazy!

It would be best if ya took em off. Stripped em of the pads and any bits ya dont want paint on. Give em a really good clean and wire brush at least.

[papperbear]

I know where you're coming from Len but when it comes to car stuff I'm like a duck out of water.  I was one of those kids who would take things apart ... try to put them back together and have pieces left over !!

How difficult is it?
Suppose if I dont try I'll never know - I just dont want to mess it up and have to take it to a garage to get it fixed!!

 

[Fielder5757]

Ok mate, Basic Tuturial for ya

Firstly dont bother with any kind of expencie painting kit, Just buy a tin on calaper paint from halfords, No need for an undercoat what so ever, One tin gives you enagh to pain the calapers of 50 cars. Also, buy some alloys cleaner too.

Remove the wheel, spray on the alloy cleaner onto the calaper, Then leave it to take effect for about 5 minites. Then, Using a wire brush or some kind of abrasive surface (i used wet and dry) scratch off the surface rust as best as you can, Giving the surface a quick wash every 2-3 mins untill the calaper is a sorta black colour with some spots of rush (doesnt need to be perfect)

Now you can tape off th calapers etc if you like, However if like me you have a steady hand with a paint brush, just paint the front of the calaper, the top and the side, no need to do the back, no ones going to see that area are they?

Apply 3-4 layors of paint at intervals instructed on the tin, (the pain should only cost ?4.99) then leave to set. It should be drivable withing 3-4 hours

Here is how mine came out:

[Len]

Well ya can do it Fielders way - just depends on how careful you are with the paint. Ya dont want any paint getting on the discs or pads!

If ya wanna do it properly its not difficult. Prob dont have to take caliper off. Just take out the pads and slip a cloth over the discs.

[...joe]

i'd do it fielders way if your not too confident with the mechanical side of things. just amke sure you try to get rid of as much of the sh!tty brake dust as possible and as much rust so you get the best finish. maybe take a drill with a wire brush attatchment to them? then mask off as much as possible should be fairly straight forward. good luck

[Helios_Blue_Valver]

I did mine on the car and just took my time cleaning and scuffing them with a wire brush. 9 months on and they still look great.

[papperbear]

Cheers Guys - I'll be off to Halfords at the weekend!!  Dont know whether I'll be able to do anything as I 've got a Halloween party over the weekend and I've got some tequilla I need to finished off 

[Len]

If ya want a colour other than standard, use Smooth Hammerite and mix colours til ya get what ya want.
Even shades, coz i wanted a yellow Gold and it worked!

[Dizzie]

if you're going for red don't paint straight onto the red else they go pink - like mine