Painting my Calipers!

[Cdexplorer]

Hopefully I'm gonna pick up some caliper paint today and start on the project this afternoon. Does anybody have any suggestions/tips how to do it or how to make it look half way decent? I'm thinking of trying to match the red "R" on my centercap...either that or a black - whadda ya think?

Thanks!

 

[eguiyab]

this might help

i did this on my cousins sports car a few weeks back and one thing is, if your calipers are a little rusty, it can help to sand them down a bit. gives a nice smooth finish after wards. pls one main thing is use lots of small coats. dries so much faster and looks better. my cousin was to impatient and did one huge think coat and it just ruined the whole paint job.

good luck and post some pics when your done !
Emmanuel

 

[eguiyab]

oh yeah

i would probably go with red.....it might be hard to see the black.... and the dirt would show easy.
or match the color of your X ?? either way it would look good

 

[aldive]

I too vote for RED.

Be sure to post a pic when you are done.

Good luck......

 

[BRacing]

caliper paint

if you would like to paint them black, use barbecue paint. This has a heat resistance of more than 1500F, and its satin black color looks good. This will outlast caliper paint.

We've used caliper paints before, and their color always distorts/fades due to extreme heat after a year or so. The black from the BBQ doesn't fade (ever!) and actually looks quite good. Just don't get gloss black, use satin or flat black to hide any dirt/dust.

FYI - we also use a brake paint that changes color with increasing temperature. We apply a dab here and there on our braking system to see how much heat is generated and where it dissapates to. It's interesting to see how much heat the rotor is exposed to, and then how much heat transfers to the caliper and the surrounding suspension componets.

PS - this is race car information. We see extreme temps because of the extreme conditions we run in. But i believe that everything should trickle down from the race cars. Stopping a heavy trailer with your X can generate similar heat conditions as a race car.

However, if you barely drive your X, and use it for show, then caliper paint would be perfect.

 

[Dan E.]

My friend painted his calipers red. He drives a 91 EB. Looks really nice.

 

[Cdexplorer]

Well, I chose to go with a red..."Ford Red" to be exact. I got a real late start this afternoon and since I don't have jackstands I could only do one at a time. I took my time on the front left caliper. I sanded it, cleaned it and sprayed it...a few coats. That was all I was able to get done, hopefully I'll get to finish the job tomorrow. By the time it was dry and I got the wheel back on it was dark out so I couldn't get a good look at it. I think it'll look alright. I'll just have to wait and see. Pictures will be on their way!

 

[TarHeel085]

do you have a pic?

 

[D]

why do you want to paint your calipers? If you do just dont paint them yellow like all of the import guys do.:smoke

 

[Nonoy]

There are three colors to pickred , black and blue . I painted mine with blue (Fords color) and also other colors are common. I suggest that you clean the caliper with a brake cleaner using a metal brush or a toothbrush. . Be carefull not to ruin the piston rubber. I use a cloth to cover parts that does not need to be painted. Good luck

 

[jimbo74]

i just got some red... pics will be up on monday

 

[Cdexplorer]

Well...they're done and they look awesome. I took some pics but I don't have a digital camera so it'll be a few days. They're red and are very close to matching the R on my Cobra centercap. Glad to finally have this done because it looks many times better than the rust looked before. Thanks everybody for your advice!

 

[Cdexplorer]

it's about time!

I finally got my pictures back! It took so long because college started up again and I forgot my film at home..etc. I just got them back this afternoon and am still looking for someone with a scanner. If I can't find one I'll go home tomorrow and scan them. Hopefully they'll be up very soon

 

[Flyhalf]

Can you explain teh process involved when painting the calipers?

-t

 

[NITELIFE]

great! I really want to see those pics!

--mark

 

[Cdexplorer]

Well, first off...I went home today JUST to scan those pics. Unfortunately I grabbed the wrong envelope of pictures I wasn't too happy when I sat down at the computer at home. Anyway, I'm going home this weekend and I promise the pics will be up by Sunday - Friday if I'm lucky.

As far as the process goes. Well, I dunno if I did it right or what but I'll tell you what I did anyway.
*First I sprayed the rotor/caliper area with brake parts cleaner.
*I sanded all parts I intended to paint until they were fairly smooth. Then I sprayed everything with brake parts cleaner again. Let Dry.
*I put masking tape on all rubber parts visible. I dunno what they're called but there are 4 of them on each caliper. 1/2" wide tape worked wonderful-it was just the right width.
*I put a piece of cardboard inside the wheel well directly behind the rotor so the overspray wouldn't get all over everything else.
*Then Spray away! I did 3 thin coats with about 30-40 minutes between each one.
*Take the tape off, put the wheel back on and enjoy the new look

I hope this paint makes it through the rough NE winter. I dunno what to expect though. I'm just hoping I won't have to re-paint them next year.

 

[YetiX]

I'll look forward to seeing 'em cause I'm thinking of doing the same thing.

 

[Cdexplorer]

pics are up

Check out my post in Explorer Sport Trucks...I've got pics up!

 

[Spas]

Well guys, it's been MONTHS since the last post-can we get an update on everybody who painted their calipers? Have they faded at all?

I found some high temp paint at Pep boys-the label says that it "works great on exhaust manifolds and high temp engine parts"-it's rated at 1500 degrees. Think that'll work all right?

#1) What cleaner did y'all use to clean off the calipers?
#2) Sanding makes the paint stick better, right? Do you just grab a piece of sandpaper and go at it?

Thanks!

 

[TarHeel085]

Spas read the label on that stuff i think ya have to bake it in the oven. mine have faded either that or there real dirty. i just used brake cleaner i dunno what kind just use brake kleen.