Painted Calipers...Cheers & Jeers

3ponyshow · Jul 26, 2010

Though I will eventually upgrade the brakes, with only 9000 miles on the car I knew it may be long time before that happens. I've seen this done on other cars but was fairly underwhelmed with the results. Eventually, I just decided to give it a try and thought I'd share the experience in case someone else is curious.

I used the Duplicolor kit which supplied everything needed. Knowing a quality outcome is in the prep, I took my time and was very thorough in this step. I started with the caliper cleaner and got eveything squeaky clean. I followed up with the supplied tape and had all four calipers ready to go within about an hour and a half. I mixed the paint and applied 3 coats. Here's what went well and what could use improvement.

Cheers
*Everything required was included.
*The Caliper Cleaner and trim tape were good quality and portioned well.
*The paint covered well and was plentiful for future tough up.
*The directions on the box were easy to follow and the illustrations detailed.

Jeers
*The included brush was a real piece of garbage and only finished the first coat of just 3 calipers before it disintigrated. Buy a quality brush before you start.
*As stated, the directions on the box were easy to follow but deferred to the directions on the included cans which were different??? Make up your mind already!
*The setup time between coats was considerably longer than what was described. I actually waited an entire day before applying the final coat.

All in all, I thought it was worth it. I've included a few pics and you can decide for yourselves.

Rear Caliper

Front Caliper

Front with the wheel on...

As it sits...

twogts4us · Jul 27, 2010

I also used the brush kit on the rear calipers of my 02 GT and was very happy with the outcome. Who would have thought you could brush paint and get good results? Nice work!

txredgt · Jul 27, 2010

I did the same with mine except I went for the black paint on it. I have the laser red and the only red they sell is the one to match yalls torch so it wouldn't have looked right. I bought some pony sticker things and put them on for a clean look

Kilgore Trout · Jul 27, 2010

Nice work now use por-15 on those rear caliper brackets to make it even cleaner.

sneaky98gt · Jul 27, 2010

I used that same kit on mine last summer. I think I did 3 coats. And yes, the brush is a pos, but other than that, it is a nice kit for $20. I also painted the brackets and rotors black with a hi-temp spray bottle; this made it look a LOT cleaner. The black has now worn off, but I think it was because it was a junk brand of paint; I've got a new can of black caliper paint made by Duplicolor, so maybe I can get results this time that last like the calipers themselves have.

3ponyshow · Jul 27, 2010

Kilgore Trout said:
Nice work now use por-15 on those rear caliper brackets to make it even cleaner.

I'm not familiar with that. Please explain.

N8Dogg98 · Jul 27, 2010

I did the same thing on my rears and was very impressed with the outcome. I too threw out the brush that came with the kit and used a 1.5" disposable brush. Looks awesome and I can't believe how nice and even the paint dried.

Kilgore Trout · Jul 27, 2010

por-15 is a very durable black paint

3ponyshow · Jul 27, 2010

N8Dogg98 said:
Looks awesome and I can't believe how nice and even the paint dried.

If you have a pic, post it up.

3ponyshow · Jul 27, 2010

sneaky98gt said:
The black has now worn off, but I think it was because it was a junk brand of paint; I've got a new can of black caliper paint made by Duplicolor, so maybe I can get results this time that last like the calipers themselves have.

Kilgore Trout said:
por-15 is a very durable black paint

It was suggested to me while i was doing this that I shoud paint the brackets black. While it was tempting, I wasn't sure what paint to use or how the outcome would be, so I opted not to for now. With the feedback here though, I may go ahead and try it.

3ponyshow · Jul 27, 2010

ahall2004 said:
I have the laser red and the only red they sell is the one to match yalls torch so it wouldn't have looked right.

Probably a good decision. If I had almost any other color, I would have chosen a different caliper paint. As it was, I was really tempted to buy the yellow just to stand out.

N8Dogg98 · Jul 27, 2010

3ponyshow said:
It was suggested to me while i was doing this that I shoud paint the brackets black. While it was tempting, I wasn't sure what paint to use or how the outcome would be, so I opted not to for now. With the feedback here though, I may go ahead and try it.

I actually painted the bracket red too... looks nice... I'll go take a pic w/ my cell phone real quick.

Here are the fronts, I bought the red Mach 1 brake kit for the fronts

Then in order to match the fronts I painted the rears:

The match was actually pretty good. Seems like the red caliper paint has a little more orange than the Mach 1 calipers but it's hard to tell.

Kilgore Trout · Jul 27, 2010

it is also good to paint the brake dust shields. a rivet gun is needed and por15 works great here also

N8Dogg98 · Jul 27, 2010

Yeah I would have liked to do that too. I did paint my rotor hats on the front brakes with the spray on Duplicolor gloss black caliper paint. I painted the rotors over a year ago and the black paint is still nice and glossy. I still haven't taken the time to paint the rotor hats on the rears, but I definitely would like to and should.

3ponyshow · Jul 27, 2010

N8Dogg98 said:
Yeah I would have liked to do that too. I did paint my rotor hats on the front brakes with the spray on Duplicolor gloss black caliper paint. I painted the rotors over a year ago and the black paint is still nice and glossy. I still haven't taken the time to paint the rotor hats on the rears, but I definitely would like to and should.

You did a great job and they look really nice!
When you do the rotor hats, take some pics. Also, if you don't mind, please identify the different parts so those of us that aren't that parts knowledgable will know what you're referring to and not start painting something else. As soon as Kilgore Trout mentioned a rivet gun, my first inclination is to run away. However, if someone's describing what they're doing, I'm more likely to get comfortable with it and give it a try.

N8Dogg98 · Jul 27, 2010

3ponyshow said:
You did a great job and they look really nice!
When you do the rotor hats, take some pics. Also, if you don't mind, please identify the different parts so those of us that aren't that parts knowledgable will know what you're referring to and not start painting something else. As soon as Kilgore Trout mentioned a rivet gun, my first inclination is to run away. However, if someone's describing what they're doing, I'm more likely to get comfortable with it and give it a try.

Thanks appreciate the compliments. If you can see in teh pictures of the front brakes the rotor hats are gloss black. I just taped off the rotors just above where teh brake pad touches them and painted with the duplicolor caliper spray paint. Turned out nice and I'd highly recommend that paint. I just cleaned them up good with brake cleaner and steel wool.

roadman4.6 · Jul 27, 2010

Reading all of these replies just motivated me to give this a try this week. Looks great, nice job!

3ponyshow · Jul 28, 2010

roadman4.6 said:
Reading all of these replies just motivated me to give this a try this week. Looks great, nice job!

Awesome! Just to summarize,
Overall, the Duplicolor kit was pretty good.
Make sure you buy a quality brush before you start.
Make sure everything to be painted is VERY clean.
Make sure to tape everything your brush might hit.
I used a cardboard template for the circle areas. It was much faster and more precise than trying to tape.
Take your time and don't skimp on the coats. (3 seems to be the number)
Make sure you have plenty of beer and music.
Take your time and have fun!

Oh and, take pics and post 'em when you're done.

ran260gt · Jul 30, 2010

Looks really good, I need to paint my calipers !

sneaky98gt · Jul 30, 2010

3ponyshow said:
Awesome! Just to summarize,
Overall, the Duplicolor kit was pretty good.
Make sure you buy a quality brush before you start.
Make sure everything to be painted is VERY clean.
Make sure to tape everything your brush might hit.
I used a cardboard template for the circle areas. It was much faster and more precise than trying to tape.
Take your time and don't skimp on the coats. (3 seems to be the number)
Make sure you have plenty of beer and music.
Take your time and have fun!

Oh and, take pics and post 'em when you're done.

Agree 100%, although I found the easiest way to tape the rotors is with black electrical tape. It stretches and you can tape the entire rotor with 2 long pieces if you just work it as you go around.

It really is a nice, cheap, easy mod. I have gotten more compliments about the painted brakes than anything else on my car other than the stereo system.

Painted Calipers...Cheers & Jeers

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