Painted caliper experience

[Jeffksf B]

So ever since I got my 08 STA I've been wanting to paint teh calipers red. I finally got to it this past week. Now I've painted plenty of calipers before and my go to method is VHT caliper spray in silver. I've liked this method because I can complete this job in a few hrs because the spray paint dries very quickly. But I wasn't completly sure I would get a good shiny paint job with the red spray paint so I decided to try the duplicolor brush on kit. I did use this kit many years ago on a coworkers sons car that I had a for a week, all I remember about that job is they turned out well but took a while to dry, but I also remember doing it during a wet fall. Being that I live in a 2 car 2 driver household with 2 young busy kids I was concerned about dry time. After reading reviews online and people saying that it dried quickly I decided to try it again. I started wed. night and was able to clean up and paint the rears only that night. I used air die grinders with sanding discs and wire wheels to get the calipers clean. I took my rotors to the machine shop Thursday morning first thing for a fresh cut since I purchased new Wagner pads. Dropped my wife off at work and the proceeded to do the fronts. The paint was going on like maple syrup, not the best for quick dry times. I only needed 2 coats. The rear were dry to the touch but I could tell the paint was still soft. Once I got the rotors back I proceeded to assemble the rears while the fronts dried. The paint was still pretty soft and thick in parts with some runs in it. After assembling the rear I had many smudges and wrinkles in the paint, especially since the outside pad clips on to the caliper. The fronts look better because they don't need as much handling to bolt them into place. Overall they don't look to bad as long as you don't get up close and stair at them. After a couple days driving on them I can tell the paint got harder. I love the shine and the color but they are far from perfect. I will probably pull the wheels and do some touch up. If I do it again I think I will go spray red with a spray clear coat.

Oh and I should probably post pictures but you really wont be able to see the details any way.

 

[EddieS'04]

This time for the Trac. I went with caliper covers. Dont have to worry with touch-up or painting replacment calipers.

 

[Jeffksf B]

Ideally I'd get a set from a junkyard and then strip them down and send them out for powdercoat.

 

[Richard L]

Jeffksf,

Powder coating would have been my first choice. In either case the calipers need to be spotlessly clean before powder coating or painting or you will usually get unsatisfactory results.



The other problem may have been not allowing the Duplicolor paint to completely dry. Paints contain various solvents that need time to evaporate before the paint is completely stable. I suspect that you may installed the calipers and used the brakes too early, before the paint had completely cured/hardened. The drying time on paint varies based on temperature and humidity...even if you felt the paint was dry to the touch, it probably was not completely dry enough to withstand brake temperatures.



...Rich

 

[Jeffksf B]

Rich, clearly it needed more time but I didn't have that luxury. I started wed. evening and the rears had nearly 16hrs. of dry time before I handled them. I couldn't afford to have the truck out of service another day. I just want others to realize they need to consider how much dry time may be needed.

 

[Todd Z]

I Highly recommend Por 15 caliper paint.



Sprays don't hold up.



Todd Z

 

[Jeffksf B]

I thought about the POR 15 but thought dry time could be even more due to the fact you have a base coat of the POR 15 paint and then a couple coats of color.

 

[Richard L]

jeffksf,

Here is an old saying that we all learned the hard way:



"There is never enought time to do things right, but there is always time to do things over". :cry:



...Rich

 

[Jeffksf B]

Very fitting Rich:haveabeer:

 

[Robert Caffyn]

Jeff, look up NuGeon. They make powdercoated calipers for our trucks. I think they are sold through NHT or something. These are OEM calipers that they do it to, so the fit is perfect. Come in 4 different colors with custom colors available. Here ya go....

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[Jeffksf B]

Those look good, I found them online but no confirmation on colors.

 

[Richard L]

Bob C,

That is cool !!



...Rich