So I finally got round to painting my calipers :)
- Thread starter Tommo
- Start date
Shipkiller
Lifer
Lucy,
With brush on paint, you do not have to worry about over spray on your baby....
This is a diry job. Wear gloves or something similar. If you have long nails the brake cleaner will take off your nail polish..
Get a couple of cans of brake cleaner and some small wire brushes. Steel and brass work well. LOTS OF RAGS...
Remove your wheels and calipers the pull the brake pads off. Mark them so the go back on the same way/side. Then put the calipers back on the wheel without the pads.
This allows a much better way to clean the calipers without trying to hold them.
DO NOT LET THEM hang from the brake line...
Start cleaning, make sure to clean around the caliper piston. This will make pushing the piston back in a lot easier, since they will drift outward. When they drift, you will not be able to get the caliper w/pads back on the rotor with out pushing them in a little bit.. Do not use a wire brush on the piston rubber.....
Look here: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4379
You may want to do two wheels a day. Depends on how long it takes the paint to dry. I did fronts on Sat, and the rears on Sunday.
If you are planning on using a spray paint, make sure you mask off the pad surface of the rotor and the rubber piston portion of the caliper.....
I just finished washing my car this evening, and now one year later (after painting), the calipers are still bright red and the hubs are shiny black, like in the pictures....
Of course my car gets washed twice a week...
With brush on paint, you do not have to worry about over spray on your baby....
This is a diry job. Wear gloves or something similar. If you have long nails the brake cleaner will take off your nail polish..
Get a couple of cans of brake cleaner and some small wire brushes. Steel and brass work well. LOTS OF RAGS...
Remove your wheels and calipers the pull the brake pads off. Mark them so the go back on the same way/side. Then put the calipers back on the wheel without the pads.
This allows a much better way to clean the calipers without trying to hold them.
DO NOT LET THEM hang from the brake line...
Start cleaning, make sure to clean around the caliper piston. This will make pushing the piston back in a lot easier, since they will drift outward. When they drift, you will not be able to get the caliper w/pads back on the rotor with out pushing them in a little bit.. Do not use a wire brush on the piston rubber.....
Look here: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4379
You may want to do two wheels a day. Depends on how long it takes the paint to dry. I did fronts on Sat, and the rears on Sunday.
If you are planning on using a spray paint, make sure you mask off the pad surface of the rotor and the rubber piston portion of the caliper.....
I just finished washing my car this evening, and now one year later (after painting), the calipers are still bright red and the hubs are shiny black, like in the pictures....
Of course my car gets washed twice a week...
Shipkiller said:Lucy,
With brush on paint, you do not have to worry about over spray on your baby....
This is a diry job. Wear gloves or something similar. If you have long nails the brake cleaner will take off your nail polish..
Get a couple of cans of brake cleaner and some small wire brushes. Steel and brass work well. LOTS OF RAGS...
Remove your wheels and calipers the pull the brake pads off. Mark them so the go back on the same way/side. Then put the calipers back on the wheel without the pads.
This allows a much better way to clean the calipers without trying to hold them.
DO NOT LET THEM hang from the brake line...
Start cleaning, make sure to clean around the caliper piston. This will make pushing the piston back in a lot easier, since they will drift outward. When they drift, you will not be able to get the caliper w/pads back on the rotor with out pushing them in a little bit.. Do not use a wire brush on the piston rubber.....
Look here: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4379
You may want to do two wheels a day. Depends on how long it takes the paint to dry. I did fronts on Sat, and the rears on Sunday.
If you are planning on using a spray paint, make sure you mask off the pad surface of the rotor and the rubber piston portion of the caliper.....
I just finished washing my car this evening, and now one year later (after painting), the calipers are still bright red and the hubs are shiny black, like in the pictures....
Of course my car gets washed twice a week...
Thanks for that
Oh i will certainly be wearing gloves, i only had my nails done the other day
I was planning on doing them all tomorrow, as the paint tin says not to use the car for 24 hours after, and i will need to use my car from 8.30am on Monday. Suppose it's going to be a long day!
Hope you post a picture in your work gear, tin in hand and evidence of progress...
BTW - wouldn't worry too much about not using the car for 24 hours. I'm sure overnight will be just fine to allow it to dry and harden enough.
This brake paint dries really quickly and if you work out a sequence, one caliper will have a coat dry by the time you have the next one cleaned offand ready to paint. I suggest putting cling film on the brush between uses and it's a pig to clean if it starts to dry out.
BTW - wouldn't worry too much about not using the car for 24 hours. I'm sure overnight will be just fine to allow it to dry and harden enough.
This brake paint dries really quickly and if you work out a sequence, one caliper will have a coat dry by the time you have the next one cleaned offand ready to paint. I suggest putting cling film on the brush between uses and it's a pig to clean if it starts to dry out.
Nerra said:
What pictures of you in Halfords buying paint?
I'm sure Hammerite will be in the same league as caliper paint for this job - have fun
Aliv6 said:
I'm pretty sure that's the whole point.
They might not be Brembo's, but it still looks great. There's a some silver ones posted in one of these threads right now and they look better than OEM rust, but not good enough to invest time on in my opinion. Stick with the red and keep us updated on the process. I'm watching this thread for tips. Topshelf said:Aliv6 said:
I'm pretty sure that's the whole point.
lol. Suppose. But there no nice looking brakes. So not something i'd highlight as a key attribute to the car!
cj10jeeper said:
hah... hah...
Yeah I'm sure hammerite will be fine. I did notice on the tin of the caliper paint that it specified a certain amount of prep where as hammerite says you can paint on pretty much anything including rust. I still plan to clean my calipers as best I can but its good to know the paint should bond well regardless of prep.
A few whole car pics can be seen here: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8634&start=15
I think red caliper looks good and would have painted mine red but i feel too many nova's driving around with red caliper paint has slightly tainted the look. (p.s. i'm not saying if you paint your caliper red your a chav; I'm saying for me chavs spoilt a good look lol.)
By nature, red, yellow and white paints, don't cover so well so i'd recommend two coats of the red hammerite chap.
erm what else... oh yeh.. lol. i just used some of that Humbrol paint you get with air fix kits for the springs, (usually i'd go hammerite for those too but thought i'd try something else) and so far it's lasted no problems.
This really isn't an exact science they're only calipers, removing pads and calliper; spending a whole day cleaning etc sounds alot of effort. no one is going to get down and closely inspect you've not got a drop of paint on the back of the pad etc. no need to take calliper off, you need only paint what you can see. I had my wheels off and back on within 2 hours.
I think red caliper looks good and would have painted mine red but i feel too many nova's driving around with red caliper paint has slightly tainted the look. (p.s. i'm not saying if you paint your caliper red your a chav; I'm saying for me chavs spoilt a good look lol.)
By nature, red, yellow and white paints, don't cover so well so i'd recommend two coats of the red hammerite chap.
erm what else... oh yeh.. lol. i just used some of that Humbrol paint you get with air fix kits for the springs, (usually i'd go hammerite for those too but thought i'd try something else) and so far it's lasted no problems.
This really isn't an exact science they're only calipers, removing pads and calliper; spending a whole day cleaning etc sounds alot of effort. no one is going to get down and closely inspect you've not got a drop of paint on the back of the pad etc. no need to take calliper off, you need only paint what you can see. I had my wheels off and back on within 2 hours.
Swami said:E85 said:whoh!! you did that with the calipers ON the car? WOW!!! Hand painted? Good job Tommo!!
I agree, I had written off the job as I didn't want to start taking my brakes apart but you've restored my hope!
Nerra / Lucy - I'm looking forward to the pics!
Yeah was pretty easy. Just had a tiny flat head screwdriver by my side incase I got it on parts I shouldnt have.
Please bare in mind Ive NEVER done anything technical like this before, my mechanical knowledge is next to none (the main reason for no taking the calipers apart), and im not even half decent with a brush and paint.
Here is a close up to prove that I didnt take the photos from a distance because of a poor finish
Don't have secons thought. Your first ones always the best. To be honest I was 50/50 with silver, but it just didnt seem like much of an improvement for the hassle involved. A 200+ bhp RWD 2 seater convertible does not look chavvy with red calipers. We aren't talking boy racer Saxo's here guys.
Well i've had to put off doing mine until this weekend coming (hopefully!)
I ended up not having the time to do them yesterday after i'd been out for an unexpected lunch that ended up taking over 3 hours, so i didn't have enough time to do them seeing as it would be getting dark around 6.
So i got up at 9.30 today to do them, got all the things together after i'd showered and as i was walking towards the stairs i dropped the tin of paint since my hands were rather full, and the lid came straight off, red paint everywhere!!! So i've just spent the last 2 hours scrubbing the carpet, getting high on fumes from white spirit and turps, but luckily it's pretty much come out.
And now it's bloody raining so i can't do them anyway!! I think someone is trying to tell me something
I ended up not having the time to do them yesterday after i'd been out for an unexpected lunch that ended up taking over 3 hours, so i didn't have enough time to do them seeing as it would be getting dark around 6.
So i got up at 9.30 today to do them, got all the things together after i'd showered and as i was walking towards the stairs i dropped the tin of paint since my hands were rather full, and the lid came straight off, red paint everywhere!!! So i've just spent the last 2 hours scrubbing the carpet, getting high on fumes from white spirit and turps, but luckily it's pretty much come out.
And now it's bloody raining so i can't do them anyway!! I think someone is trying to tell me something