Painting brake calipers - now painted :-)

Bing

Bing

The Legend
 Exiled Scot in Maidstone
Bought my hammerite, some small wire brushes, just got to get some brake cleaner and a couple of wire brush drill fitments for the crannies. I am well aware this topic has been done to death as I spent about 2 hours browsing threads on it last night... However I still have a couple of questions I couldn't find answers to...

- will the brake cleaner take all the copper slip off the back of the pads & contact points on the caliper ? Don't really want to take the whole lot off, but I also don't want to end up with squeaky brakes again...

- is it easy to get round the back of the calipers with them in situ ? For the fronts I guess I could turn the wheels in on the side I am doing, right ?

- I assume it is best to take the caliper spring off and paint it separately so it doesn't get stuck, yes ?

- do you all tend to do one side then the other, or fronts then rears ?

- 2 or 3 coats of hammerite ?

Maybe small issues / simple questions, but I want to spend as little time scratching my head as possible :D

Oh, I have opted for smooth silver, no decals, and will probably have a crack at the disk hubs while I'm at it. The fronts are pretty new so may well just clean up, but the rears are horrible... It'll probably take a couple of days through next week but I'll post some before / after pics when they are done, of course :wink:
 
I plan to do the same mod soon i will go silver as well :thumbsup: i never did that before so your questions will be useful for me as well
 
Bing said:
Bought my hammerite, some small wire brushes, just got to get some brake cleaner and a couple of wire brush drill figments for the crannies. I am well aware this topic has been done to death as I spent about 2 hours browsing threads on it last night... However I still have a couple of questions I couldn't find answers to...

- will the brake cleaner take all the copper slip off the back of the pads & contact points on the caliper ? Don't really want to take the whole lot off, but I also don't want to end up with squeaky brakes again...

- is it easy to get round the back of the calipers with them in situ ? For the fronts I guess I could turn the wheels in on the side I am doing, right ?

- I assume it is best to take the caliper spring off and paint it separately so it doesn't get stuck, yes ?

- do you all tend to do one side then the other, or fronts then rears ?

- 2 or 3 coats of hammerite ?

Maybe small issues / simple questions, but I want to spend as little time scratching my head as possible :D

Oh, I have opted for smooth silver, no decals, and will probably have a crack at the disk hubs while I'm at it. The fronts are pretty new so may well just clean up, but the rears are horrible... It'll probably take a couple of days through next week but I'll post some before / after pics when they are done, of course :wink:
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I had no trouble with the copper slip being washed away when I used brake cleaner, however I guess it depends on how much is applied Bing.

I would always remove the calliper spring as a matter of course as it easier to paint the calliper, stops the spring sticking and gives a more professional look and finish in my opinion :)

I do one side first front and back then do the other side, for no other reason than I am a lazy sod and don't fancy moving jacks etc from one side to the other and then back again. That's far to much work and effort for me :lol:

I gave my callipers 2 coats of Hammerite, but it really depends on what the finish looks like after 2 coats.

I tried to paint as much of the calliper at the back as I could, that said you can't see that much once the wheel is back on.

I bet you will end up painting both the front and rear disk hubs just so they match up. Doesn't take long and makes a world of difference.

I used a small wire brush, a small old screw driver that I used as a scraper to get in the nooks and crannies, a 1/2 inch paint brush and a nice small artists brush for all those had to paint areas. It also saves getting excess paint everywhere, especially the brake pads. Also got a tin of Hammerite brush cleaner, which also is useful to put on a lint free cloth to wipe any wee splashes or accidental excess paint off.

You can see how my rear callipers turned out a few months ago when I had painted mine.

 
Iv just recently rebuilt some 3.0lt FRONT calipers and painted those before fitting them to my 2.0i Z4.
While i had the rear wheel's off today i sprayed the rear calipers, its easy to get behind them if you lay on the floor, but it dawned on me..... Know one will ever see anything apart from the front / outer edge.
As swifty suggests i painted the rear disk hubs as they are very large and very obvious (at-least 2-3" deep) makes such a neater better look.
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Call me lazy but £20 & 20 mins job done

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+ i much prefer the look/shape of the cover as opposed to standard caliper :|
 
Lazy mr wilks :poke:

Also, having trawled just about every thread on this subject the covers just aren't for me. Bit like an ///M badge on a non-///M, just my personal opinion.
 
Bing said:
Lazy mr wilks :poke:

Also, having trawled just about every thread on this subject the covers just aren't for me. Bit like an ///M badge on a non-///M, just my personal opinion.
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yea know where you are at but horses for courses . if we all get what we want there can be no complaints 8)
I have been down the caliper's off > shot blast > powder coat > caliper on route previously & won't be doing it again :?

Anyhow ! get a job :oops: then looking for things to do on your Z will be a distant dream :thumbsup:
 
Having a job is sooooo last year mr wilks :roll:

I won't be shot blasting anything - this will be an 'as good as I can get it to look from 4 feet away' finish :P
 
I seem to recall spraying something at my old job with Hammerite after cleaning with brake cleaner and it reacted, left tiny little air bubbles in it... Not sure if it was just the brake cleaner I used or something... May be worth a check...
 
I'll make sure that the caliper is completely dry before painting - good tip :thumbsup:
 
m_lehcim said:
I seem to recall spraying something at my old job with Hammerite after cleaning with brake cleaner and it reacted, left tiny little air bubbles in it... Not sure if it was just the brake cleaner I used or something... May be worth a check...
Click to expand...

The Hammerite is to be brushed on rather than sprayed so shouldn't be a problem.

It sounds like a chemical reaction with possibly brake cleaner residue :(
 
mr wilks said:
+ i much prefer the look/shape of the cover as opposed to standard caliper :|
Click to expand...

Completely agree Mr Wilks....for me it is one of the Z's pitfalls that the calipers don't look crisp. Some decent covers OEM covers would have finished the job off imo.
 
Did mine today. The worst part was/is the sun burn on my neck and arms...

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It looks well with the black bodywork and contrasting silver wheels
 
Bing, if you have the time, go over the calipers after you wire brush them with some Bilt Hamber Detox C.

helps with all the corrosion and gives a better finish... IMO

goes on blue, and turns black when working away...

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I done mine in hammerite silver too..

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:thumb:
 
the cueball, does the bilt hamber do the same thing as iron x ? I have a wee bit of that left... Otherwise I'll have to go with what I have at some point this week.

Shan't be taking the brake disk and pads off like you did though, won't have the time :(
 
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