red calipers

[daviboy]

still will outlast painting IMO. For general road duties.

[T_Money]

Back to the caliper painting, I got a quote for a set of stivo calipers to be sandblasted and powder coated in a colour of my choice for $45. Thats almost as cheap as buying a couple of cans of decent spray paint and doing it myself.

Hey i think thats a pretty good price? But will the paint fade off??

Yeah the price is really good although I wonder if they will remove the calipers for you?

The powder coating will last very long and will not loose colour or fade at all.

That is for the fronts only. It is $60 for all 4. Bargain if you ask me...plus they only use Dulux powder coating which is temperature rated to 400*c. Obviously they do not take off the calipers for you but i bought a new set so thats no problem for me. The place I'm going is large scale and has heaps of work on hence the small price tag. I have faith that the powder coating should last a while especially if treated with a clear coat (although this is not necessary) I am taking them in tomorrow, I'll post pics as soon as they arrive back

[SWTIVO]

where is the place any nearby liverpool, fairfield, cabramatta

[Mr Slippy]

I stole this from a mate, I hope it helps all you peoples that really dont know what they are doing. :D

DISCLAIMER: I include general tips and precautions but please use your common sense and don't take any safety risks. Use this thread at your own risk and have fun

OK this probably one of the easiest ways to improve the appearance of big wheels, without splurging on some $$$ Brembos. Take your time and set aside about 4 hours to do a thorough job.

You'll need: (optional items marked with *)

- 1 regular or trolley jack. (trolley jack will let you do all 4 wheels at once and save time).

- 2 Jack stands (3 or 4 will also save time if you don't have a trolley jack).

- Wheel chocks (only required if only using 2 jack stands)

- Wheel nut brace

- Hard long bristle brush

- Liquid Sugar soap + bucket + hot water

- Hose and some sort of water source.

- Mineral Turpentine

- Clean rag

- Spraycan Metal primer&filler

- Spraycan Degreaser

- Spraycan "VHT" Brake caliper paint in your choice of color

- Old newspapers + Masking tape

- Nose/mouth painter's mask + safety glasses

- * Hairdryer (really saves a lot of time)

- * Tyre shine gel/gloss

- * Car wash shampoo + sponge

- * Refreshing beverages + some tunes.

Step 1:

Take off as many wheels as you have jack stands/jacks, observing usual precautions as per your Owner's Manual. If you only have 2 stands it's easiest to jack up one side of the car and then once finished painting do the other side.

Step 2:

Spray the whole brake + disc assembly with degreaser and let it soak for a few minutes, then hose it all off. Mix up a concentrated solution of sugar soap with hot water (I doubled the recommended amount of soap). Scrub the calipers with the brush + soap until your arms seize, then rest and go again until the calipers are as close to clean metal as possible. Hose the whole area down. Now's a good time to use the rag to give it a quick wipe and use the hairdryer to get it all bone dry.

Step 3:

Mask up the discs, suspension components, the panels around the wheel arch with newspaper + masking tape. Tuck the newspaper under the edge of the calipers but make sure you leave enough gap so you don't miss areas when it comes to paint. Double check everything at this step.

Tip: Tape up the rubber boots on the caliper, and bolt heads, fluid bleed nipple etc as you don't really want to get paint all over these bits.

Step 4:

Put on your mask/glasses unless you want to feel ill. Shake up can of primer, just like your young vandal days and give the whole caliper a nice thin coat making sure you cover all areas. Wait about 10mins, then give it a second coat. Now shake up the caliper paint, and give it 3 coats, waiting about 15mins inbetween coats. Unless you are trying to waste time move onto the next wheel whilst you are waiting inbetween layers to dry, or use the hairdryer (halves drying time) if you only have one side of the car jacked up.

Step 5:

Now's probably a good time to give your wheels a nice wash with the shampoo + tyre gel treatment, as you give the final layer of paint a chance to air dry. (don't rush this process). Wait about 30mins then gently peel away all the newspaper + tape, careful not to disturb the paint which won't be fully cured yet.

Step 6:

Now you need to rotate the brake disc so you can wipe off the overspray which will have gone through all the little gaps that you couldn't mask. For the front wheels you need to put the gearshift into Neutral, for the rear wheels you need to take off the handbrake.

Take a firm grip of the wheel studs and just rotate the hub until you can wipe off all the overspray with the rag + turpentine.

CAUTION: If you only have one side/end of the car jacked up, make sure you use wheel chocks on the wheels which are on the ground. Chocks on the front wheel(s) when you disengage Park, and chocks on rear wheel(s) when you disengage Park. Re-engage Park/Parkbrake once done.

Step 7:

Refit your wheels, lower the car, then repeat all above steps if you have only done one side of the car. Otherwise stand back and admire your work before/after:

Note: Don't drive the car for a good 12 hours to give the paint full curing time. Some people say it's good to drive it so the brakes get nice and hot to bake the paint, however the dust from the pads will then get all stuck onto the surface of the paint.

All of the above equipment can be purchased from Repco/Supercheap/Autobarn. So far I have seen paint in Yellow, Red, Blue, Black, Silver. When using the above directions, I have found 1 can primer can do 8 wheels, 1 can paint can do 6 wheels.

[selyaT]

There's already a DIY on the forum

[mono]

u can just buy caliper spray from autobarn lol

[T.J]

when i did mine they looked hot but only problem was i painted the rotor hats too and now days the heat has turned the "heat proof" red paint black dont waste your time with vht paint the finish doent last very long at all get em professionally painted or powdercoated youll only wish you hadnt been so cheap to start with as i did lol!

[CHA54]

I used VHT gloss black to do my calipers and hats on a few of my cars, they're still gloss black and like-new 3 years later...

Preparation is the key. The cast metal calipers need to be shiney before applying the paint if you want it to last. HD Wire wheel or bead blasting will get the first part of the preparation completed.

pics of properly prepared calipers can be seen towards the bottom of this thread: http://www.twincam.info/index.php?showtopic=27538

Edited March 25, 2008 by rollamods

[-ALFI-]

Back to the caliper painting, I got a quote for a set of stivo calipers to be sandblasted and powder coated in a colour of my choice for $45. Thats almost as cheap as buying a couple of cans of decent spray paint and doing it myself.

Have you had this done yet? How does it look? Where did you get it done?

[-ALFI-]

Would be better if they where huge Bremos, but whatever, look good enough

[selyaT]

Good work Alfi, lookin real good

[One-pager]

Oh man Alfi, that looks hot

[Kenneth]

now all we need is some dumpage!

[sugizo_esp]

Alfi,

where did u get it done??

[-ALFI-]

Alfi,

where did u get it done??

Was done buy they guys at "The Tyre Factory", the wheel shop I got the rims from, $150. Apparently it looks even better when the car is in motion, but cant see it, my gf won't learn manual, grone.

I know I could have done it myself but without a car lift, air ratchet gun, level driveway or time, it would have been an A-hole of a job. 150 bucks is reasonable I do recon.

2.25 pipe next

Edited May 3, 2008 by -ALFI-

[sugizo_esp]

Alfi,

where did u get it done??

Was done buy they guys at "The Tyre Factory", the wheel shop I got the rims from, $150. Apparently it looks even better when the car is in motion, but cant see it, my gf won't learn manual, grone.

I know I could have done it myself but without a car lift, air ratchet gun, level driveway or time, it would have been an A-hole of a job. 150 bucks is reasonable I do recon.

2.25 pipe next

What sort of paint is it?

Do they take the calipers off to paint?

[wil_rolla]

i'm from melbourne too..

which tyer factory did you get it done at... looks hot...

[-ALFI-]

I had it done at Cheltenham Tyre Factory (1242 Nepean Hwy), ask for Ray, they will need the car all day. Yes the calipers had to come off, thats why I had them do it, I dont have the tools. It needs heat resistant paint, I got VHT caliper paint in "racing red", $16 from autobarn. I'm very happy with the end resault, looks great.

Edited May 4, 2008 by -ALFI-

[VF-X]

Sorry, Noob Question..

Why dont U guys just put up some Caliper Covers instead of painting them?

I think they cost pretty much the same...=S