Rusty Calipers

E

elliot_holder

Member
Hi all,

Just been cleaning my car and had the wheels off to give them a proper once over, and noticed that my calipers were looking a bit rusty.

Performace of the brakes seems absolutely fine, just they look a bit ugly, and its not something I have experienced on other cars. All of my previous cars have had painted calipers which have never developed rust.

Is this a common problem? I'm assuming the best curse of action is to remove rust as best as possible, clean and paint.
I'm not massively worried about the problem, more annoyed as I dont want them to look crap when I have new wheels fitted.

Any help / suggestions much appreciated.

Thanks
 
I'd love to hear about this as well as it will give me the info I need to paint my calipers. My biggest concern is how to clean the clips and then paint around them. Would love to hear thoughts on that too. Thanks!
 
It won't cause any performance problem, but they do look ugly. Some owners have painted the cailpers and used chromed clips.
 
Clean them up and paint them will look a lot better i use these products.

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3639&p=51616#p51616
 
GAZA62 said:
Clean them up and paint them will look a lot better i use these products.

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3639&p=51616#p51616
Click to expand...

The painting I'm not so concerned about as they make caliper paint http://64.225.94.154/ShopSite/page72.html

BUt what about the cleaning? Can I remove the clips without bleeding the brakes?
 
One of the earliest tidy up jobs I did. The calipers were a bit rusty and scaly and did not look good through the wheel

Best method is top remove the wheels, take the caliper off, remove al the clips and pads.
Use a rotary wire brush on a battery drill or similar and it'll buff all the crud off. Take care to wear a mask and don't touch any of the rubber dust covers.

Remove the carriers and clean/paint those on the bench, thus avoiding any paint on the rotor and making life easy.

Paint with 2 coats of caliper paint, hanging the caliper up on a wire hook to dry, taking care not to let it hang on the hose.

Count on an average of 30 minutes per corner of work with inevitable drying time between.

I turned mine from this to the red with new EBC Green pads. After a couple of weeks they toned down well and give a good through the wheel look. For a less obvious finish I'd suggest silver caliper paint.

Before
DSCN1492.jpg


After (note clips not yet refitted)
DSCN1500.jpg


DSCN1497.jpg


complete
DSCN1496.jpg


After 8 months - including a layer of brake dust in need of removal when next cleaned properly and heavy shadow)
DSCN2833.jpg
 
azroadie said:
GAZA62 said:
Clean them up and paint them will look a lot better i use these products.

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3639&p=51616#p51616
Click to expand...

The painting I'm not so concerned about as they make caliper paint http://64.225.94.154/ShopSite/page72.html

BUt what about the cleaning? Can I remove the clips without bleeding the brakes?
Click to expand...

I went to AdvanceAuto and picked up Duplicolor Caliper paint kit. The kit cost me $20.00 and a can of Duplicolor Caliper spray paint (for the hubs) cost $6.00.
 
cj10jeeper said:
One of the earliest tidy up jobs I did. The calipers were a bit rusty and scaly and did not look good through the wheel

Best method is top remove the wheels, take the caliper off, remove al the clips and pads.
Use a rotary wire brush on a battery drill or similar and it'll buff all the crud off. Take care to wear a mask and don't touch any of the rubber dust covers.

Remove the carriers and clean/paint those on the bench, thus avoiding any paint on the rotor and making life easy.

Paint with 2 coats of caliper paint, hanging the caliper up on a wire hook to dry, taking care not to let it hang on the hose.

Count on an average of 30 minutes per corner of work with inevitable drying time between.
Click to expand...

WOW! Looks amazing! That's what I want to do!

But how do you take off the calipers? I've never done such a task before and am a bit afraid! Any instructions, parts, equipment would be greatly appreciated!
 
20ducks said:
I polished them, then had them chrome plated. Not a cheap mod.
Click to expand...

Can I just buy new clips? If so where? I'd like to get them chrome plated then replace my current ones. My car is my daily driver. This way I don't have the down time. Thanks!
 
Shipkiller said:
Nice. I like everything but the green pads.
Click to expand...


I was not set on the coloutr of the pads but they were the correct performance rating and low dust for what I wanted.

Actually they vanished in brake dust after a few weeks.

20ducks - I like the chromed clips - neat touch
 
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