# Painting break caliper advice?



## weemax (Sep 30, 2008)

So!

Off a wheel came from my 02 VW Golf today & it was bad!:lol:

Got to work on *one* alloy back and front & after a few hours, i must amit it wasnt half bad... Some corrosion on the inside, marked on the outside - but hey, its a start.

Gave my arches a good clean as well, but the one thing that i thought could be cleaner where the calipers (and the wheel nuts tbh - rusty!)

So, id really like to paint my calipers - but at the minute they are a rusty mess & im a total noob 

So what im trying to say is, i'd like some help - from the beginning (including prep, tools, paint etc) would be superb & would be really appreciated! Car is black, silver VW alloys - so im assuming back calipers?

Cant wait for tomorrow so i can get cleaning again!:buffer:

Thanks all!


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## jordanogrady (Sep 13, 2008)

I'm no expert at this, but I have painted calipers before.

Get a wire brush and some GUNK, degrease the calipers, and scrub them till they are clean, then get some caliper paint, what ever colour you want, and paint it on, the instructions are usually on the tin. You can buy the caliper paint from halfrauds, or you may even be able to use hammerite and use that, they may need 2 coats! 

Its all in the prep, getting them clean it the worst part.

Jordan


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## jasonbarnes (Sep 10, 2008)

yeh i agree with the wire brush but as well if theres a lot of contamination on them i would suggest brake and clutch cleaner with a rag its a solvent but if there not already painted it shouldnt do any harm. and its also a lot better if you can take the whole caliper of from the flexible brake hose but if you don't know what your doing i would oppt against that.


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## johnbuck (Jul 1, 2007)

I am just doing a set of calipers which were really rusty too.

There was no way I was going to get to all of the rusty bits in situ so I took them off, soaked them in Bilt Hamber De-Ox which removed most of the bad rust, a little bit of wire brushing to get the rest off and not they are ready to paint.

Much better to prep them well or the finished job will probably be short lived.


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## K-Lex (Nov 5, 2007)

Caliper painting is all in one thing - surface preparation. Fully degrease them and then give them a quick rub over with wet and dry paper - not too harsh though. Once you've done that, paint on a layer of Hammerite Smooth (by far and away the best - don't bother with the special caliper paint you can buy). Do one caliper at a time, leave the first coat to dry for a few hours and then paint another one on. Leave that to dry and job's a good 'un. If you wanted, you can buy logo stickers from ebay so you can put a sticker on your caliper saying 'Lexus' or 'Vauxhall' or whatever. Including stickers, paint and brushes (fine ones) the whole job will come in at less than £15 and is really easy to do.
Silver cars - you could think about red, silver, black or blue for the calipers - black and silver look really good.
If you want any detailed help, let me know. Be happy to help.

If you don't spend an extra 10 minutes prepping the surface the paint won't last long.


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## weemax (Sep 30, 2008)

Thank you very much guys for all you help. Im not capable of removing the callipers at all, so will try my best to clean them as they are.

Thanks very much for all input


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## K-Lex (Nov 5, 2007)

You don't need to remove them. Just get a finer brush to get the 'hard to reach' bits. To prep those areas get a pencil and wrap a little bit of wet and dry paper around the eraser. Or get a flatblade screwdriver and do the same. There is no need at all to remove them.


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## weemax (Sep 30, 2008)

Ok guys, here are a few pictures - apologies for poor quality... You reckon they will clean up ok? Appears to be some corrosion at the top? (First pic). Could i also do the centre bit of the wheel thingy while im there? Look pretty bad on the bottom piccy...


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## theshrew (May 21, 2008)

Yeah they will clean up fine mate just might take a while to do it. The longer you spend on the prep the better and longer lasting the result will be. 


Someone said about Hammerite what colours can you get this in ? I agree the brake caliper paint you can buy is rubbish. Or could you put that on top of the Hammerite might last a bit longer ???


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## K-Lex (Nov 5, 2007)

theshrew - there's no need to put caliper paint on top of Hammerite Smooth - two coats of that is more than enough. You can get it in loads of colours, black, silver, red, blue, gold, green etc. Some people will advise putting a coat of clear lacquer on top - again, no need ad the paint gives a gloss-like finish anyway.


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## theshrew (May 21, 2008)

O right nice one i was thinking it would only be in silver or black didnt realise they did it in others.


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## K-Lex (Nov 5, 2007)

Yeah they do it in loads of colours. It applies really nicely too.


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## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

jordanogrady said:


> I'm no expert at this, but I have painted calipers before.
> 
> Get a wire brush and some GUNK, degrease the calipers, and scrub them till they are clean, then get some caliper paint, what ever colour you want, and paint it on, the instructions are usually on the tin. You can buy the caliper paint from halfrauds, or you may even be able to use hammerite and use that, they may need 2 coats!
> 
> ...


Thats how I did mine.


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## weemax (Sep 30, 2008)

Cheers folks, just thought my calipers looked a bit rough & maybe didnt think they would clean up so good. Got my wire brush & degreaser so i will have a bash at cleaning them up tomorrow...


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## bigray (Nov 22, 2006)

mine was the same i got wire brush that goes on your drill a normal brush and some brake cleaner 
i also used hammerite which is £5 from wilkinson's and you can get your wire brushes from there aswell 
heres a picture


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## MaDMaXX (Jun 18, 2008)

bigray said:


> mine was the same i got wire brush that goes on your drill a normal brush and some brake cleaner
> i also used hammerite which is £5 from wilkinson's and you can get your wire brushes from there aswell
> heres a picture


Is your suspension alright? looks like your spring's colapsed 
Calliper looks great though


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## theshrew (May 21, 2008)

Bet your bumper loves speed bumps :tumbleweed:

I got some of the hammerite from Halfords on Sat £5.99 not sure weather to paint mine tho i keep thinking go for it then think to myself it will look rubbish cant make my mind up


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## noop (Jan 5, 2007)

Japlac paint is also another option, available from B&Q. I think this is a gloss enamel paint.


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## mike b (Jun 13, 2006)

If you want it nice and OE looking, then you can always use the gold or silver. My caliper on the C2 were gold from the factory, before they lost their colour and got dirty!

I did mine this weekend incidently. Used Red hammerite smooth and did 3 coats. If you read the tin, hammerite can be applied even over rust! And is designed as a one step product. ie primer/paint/laquer


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## theshrew (May 21, 2008)

Any pics of the finished job mate


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## Y15HAL (Aug 29, 2006)

The shrew, go for it mate, they will look 100x better! You'll wonder why you never done it earlier!


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## gardian (Apr 4, 2008)

I can also vouch for Hammerite, i painted mine red, and it was easy to use. I didnt spend as long as i should have on the prep work and they need doing again, learn from my mistake, get some strong cleaner and get all of the grease\break dust off before!

Ian


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## theshrew (May 21, 2008)

I no what you mean they would look better it some respects as they wont look rust threw my wheels. 

But 

Whats putting me off is it making my car's look like a boy racer type thing if you no what i mean ( i dont mean to offend ) its just not my thing. Perhaps i might just go for silver or black rather than a red or yellow.


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## LukeA (Oct 6, 2008)

I know what you mean about the boy racer type look and agree. I painted mine black mainly just to protect them from rusting and making them easier to clean.










It's also possible to paint the edge of the disc and front hub part, just aslong as you don't get paint on the face of the disc.


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## weemax (Sep 30, 2008)

i take it everyone does the rear of the caliper too?
d'oh!


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

weemax said:


> i take it everyone does the rear of the caliper too?
> d'oh!


Oh yes!


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## weemax (Sep 30, 2008)

cheers!


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## Nickos (Apr 27, 2006)

weemax said:


> i take it everyone does the rear of the caliper too?
> d'oh!


Nope, out of sight, out of mind! :car:


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## beany_bot (Oct 6, 2008)

I have no idea, but do you not need to watch for heat in painting brake calipers? as in, when it comes to your choice of paint will it not need to be a high heat resistant paint? do they not get quite hot?


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## Streeto (Apr 3, 2008)

I took my brake pads out/ calipers off to do them on my saxo, gives you the chance to clean/copper grease the sliding pins for the brake pads as well as getting in everywhere


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## ianrobbo1 (Feb 13, 2007)

Streeto said:


> I took my brake pads out/ calipers off to do them on my saxo, gives you the chance to clean/copper grease the sliding pins for the brake pads as well as getting in everywhere


:thumb: theres a man after my own heart, while the wheels off/calipers off, you can get to loads of other places to sort them out at the same time!!:wave: I would do the backs as well then I would know the jobs done right!!


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## LukeA (Oct 6, 2008)

Same here, took everything off. Calipers and carriers. Just make sure you bleed the brakes afterwards. There's no point doing half a job especially if you've alreay taken the time to jack up the car, secure it on axle stands and taken the wheels off. In all it probably took an extra hour at the most.


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## Kap01 (Aug 12, 2007)

I really wanted to do mine, to those with japanese cars will know the caliper quality is CRAP. But now winter is here... may have to wait until spring now


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## theshrew (May 21, 2008)

Never mind that get it done mate :wave:


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## MattOz (May 15, 2007)

I always do this to my cars. I've posted on a few of the BMW forums about it and did a write up. I've cut and pasted it below.............

Matt

I used the following bits and pieces.

1 x 20mm wide paint brush - £5
1 x 5mm wide paint brush - £3
1 x Wire brush and some wire wool - £3

1 x Hammerite (smooth) Gold paint - £5.99
1 x Hammerite (smooth) Silver paint. - £5.99

Mix Silver and Gold paint in old jam jar. Approx 85% Silver and 15% Gold. Stir until thoroughly mixed together. Adjust quantities according to personal preference. I went for as close to OE look as possible. N.B The pad retainer is painted silver, as are the hubs. Only the caliper itself is painted in the Gold colour.

Calipers are painted in situ and therefore not removed. I didn't even bother masking the disk up etc. Thorougly wire brush and wire wool the caliper and remove excess corrosion with a flat-headed screw driver if required. Steel wool the hubs to remove rust.

Before painting. wash caliper with scrubbing brush, fairy liquid and hot water to degrease, or gunk, brake cleaner, megs super degreaser etc. Then allow to dry before painting caliper gold, pad retaining springs silver and hub silver.

Leave for 20 mins before re-mounting alloy. Naturally, you'll have cleaned the inside of the alloy and applied a layer of wax whilst waiting for the caliper to dry a little.  

Before:



















After:
































































It takes about an hour per corner, so about half a day in total. The cost is that of the materials listed above and your time.


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## MaDMaXX (Jun 18, 2008)

That actually looks very good, thanks for the little guide.


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