# Stop! Hammerite Time.



## CupraRcleanR (Sep 2, 2007)

After reading the great write-ups from Bigpikle, Phil H and Neil S amoungst others I felt I was equiped to possibly make a good go of sorting my calipers, hubs/disks and wheels.

My Brembos have suffered from going pink for far too long. Brembos and notorious for this and I see plenty of pink ones on the road.

The laquer seems to separate off the paint and flak leaving pink calipers.


















I did the other one yesterday and that one was even worse.

As I am a pen pusher by day my machanical skills are limited so removing of the caliper and disk for my were a step to far. So hopefully this write-up can help similar machanically challenged individuals.:lol:

Here are the tools at my disposal. As said not an expert but I think I've got here a chisel, saw, hammer, brushes, wire cutters and a fred....sorry Jack!!









$Caliper was cleaned and keyed with a firmish wire brush. It also removed loose laquer.
First coats. As you can see it goes on abit thick and looks patchy.









Second coat. I also remembered to paint my nuts also. Ow matron!









After a meal out and a walk around the park it was time to see if we are all dry and apply the decals.

Also cleaned the wheel with Tardis, Bilberry and sealed with Zaino CS inside and out and Z16 Tyre Gloss. Sorry no photos but you get the picture.

Whack on the wheel torque him up and the jobs a good un.




























Was well pleased with my efforts. Just got to do the rears now:thumb:

This shot shows the difference.










Hope this has help someone out there in DW land.:thumb:


----------



## Hair Bear (Nov 4, 2007)

Good effort mate :thumb:

How did you clean the paint off the discs? Or did the pads do this?


----------



## HC1001 (May 27, 2007)

Looks spot on now, nice work............:thumb::thumb:


----------



## CupraRcleanR (Sep 2, 2007)

Hair Bear said:


> Good effort mate :thumb:
> 
> How did you clean the paint off the discs? Or did the pads do this?


Quick spin round the block mate. I did try to keep it off the disc but I've seen others plaster them abit and it comes off no probs.


----------



## mattsbmw (Jul 20, 2008)

That has made a big difference :thumb:


----------



## R26 Jay (Jun 5, 2007)

Hey good job mate and from looking at the pics I cant see any brush strokes, so what was the paint you used? also no sanding in between coats and no laquer?

good job :thumb:


----------



## Neil_S (Oct 26, 2005)

That looks very good indeed, glad to see the caliper painting catching on :thumb:


----------



## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

Great results there, mate - top job :thumb:

To answer R26 Jay's question on your behalf - Hammerite 'smooth' red, and this doesn't need a laquer over it :thumb: (think I'm right there?)


----------



## Ultimate (Feb 18, 2007)

nice job, anyone on here used the japlac enamels for this and if so how do you find them in comparison to hammerite?


----------



## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

makes such a difference, i painted my GTI Calipers on the van...well grumpy bob did lol about 3 months ago with hammerite and applied some Brembo decals...

Still find it hilarious that i can brake just as good as mk5 gti's lol.


----------



## CupraRcleanR (Sep 2, 2007)

R26 Jay said:


> Hey good job mate and from looking at the pics I cant see any brush strokes, so what was the paint you used? also no sanding in between coats and no laquer?
> 
> good job :thumb:


Thanks mate

No, I didn't sand down between coats and didn't laquer. I don't think it needed sanding between coats and time will tell if laquer would have been a good idea.

The laquer failing was the problem last time so I decided to give this a miss. I've just got to be carefull with the PW and degreaser re the decals.

Paint used was Hammerite smooth. Can be gloopy as mentioned before so you can use Hammerite thinners to make it easier to work with.

thanks for the comments


----------



## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

where youve painted the face where the wheel touches ...that paint will wear away and go soft and make the nuts go loose

ask me how i know lol

if you look at oem stuff...they never paint that face


----------



## PaulN (Jan 17, 2008)

Looks great!

I would have avoided painting the face where the wheel mounts or maybe wacked some copper slick on or youll find them wheels wont come off next time lol

Why dont disc manufactures paint the bits not in use! Freelander Discs been on a few months and look pants.

Cheers

PaulN


----------



## BestGear (Mar 25, 2008)

CupraRcleanR said:


> Quick spin round the block mate. I did try to keep it off the disc but I've seen others plaster them abit and it comes off no probs.


I usually use a stanley knife blade (not in a handle) - works a treat and saves semi soft paint getting on the pads.

David


----------



## gt5500 (Aug 6, 2008)

steveo3002 said:


> where youve painted the face where the wheel touches ...that paint will wear away and go soft and make the nuts go loose
> 
> ask me how i know lol
> 
> if you look at oem stuff...they never paint that face


Plus its a machined mating face, ask any engineer and they will tell you that mating faces should always be kept clean and bare. I really don't think painting them is a good idea, a small runout at the hub equals a big runout at the tyre tread, plus it makes the wheels stick to the hubs. I know people are just trying to make their cars look good but you really must consider other factors before slapping paint everywhere. Painting the discs is also not a good idea, the pads will clear it but you have to remember pads are porous and certain contaminents can bond with them and cause brake judder. As to the other question, I am guessing manufactures don't paint discs because they are more concerned about stopping the car then making them look nice.


----------



## dan89 (Apr 27, 2010)

Nice job! What paint did you use? Have seen red calliper paint in halfords but not sure if thats the best to use? Also how long did you wait between coats?? Cheers


----------



## cjm (Mar 4, 2009)

thats a very nice turnaround, looking very :thumb:

where did you get the decals


----------



## RICHIE40 (Jul 9, 2007)

Good improvement there, i used red hammerite smooth on my old seat cupra calipers.Turns out really well.


----------



## dillonmr (Jan 30, 2011)

Regarding painting the discs, a number of the high end brake manufactures do paint the discs on the non contact surface. This isn’t for aesthetics, rush is a high insulator, as result can lead to increased heating. A thin layer of paint can prevent this. 

my mind would be not to paint the face of the disc for the reasons already mentioned, not a good idea to put paint between the faces.

On the point of paint on the disc face itself it's a hard one, obviously if you're painting the disc you want to get paint on every area except the contact area. My suggestion would be to time painting your discs if possible with a pad change, do the paint job and run off the over paint with the old pads then change them out with no lasting issues of contamination.


----------



## Shogun (Mar 21, 2010)

are youo sure that hammerite is heat resistant ?
but it gives an astonishing finish becouse you need to put 2 layers and then its like some gumplastic


----------



## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

For brakes, yes it's more than capable of withstanding the intermittent heat it'll be exposed to. I seem to recall someone getting the technical data from Hammerite about the temp it was stable to, and it was about the same as that quoted for 'specialist' caliper and drum paints (not the VHT stuff for manifolds and such, just the brake paints). Unfortunately I've slept since then  so I can't remember what the figure was.


----------



## PaulTheo (Sep 26, 2010)

Nice job looks great :thumb:


----------



## spursfan (Aug 4, 2009)

I have had my Red Hammerite on the calipers for almost two years now, seems indestructable..

Kev


----------



## D.K (Jul 18, 2011)

I've always used Hammerite on previous cars and it's been fine, just dont put it on too thick


----------



## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

I always hammerite my,hubs callipers and stone guards.The ones on my 407 are smooth silver and look a treat.


----------

