I want to Paint my calipers red

[ryyeung]

Here's the deal:

I have a 2007 Mazda 3 GT which has less than 5000km and want to paint the brake calipers red. My car is a bright red as well...like the RFD logo. I am still under warranty but I called up my dealership and the person said that it won't void the warranty unless if a problem occurs they trace it back to the caliper paint. I am only wanting to do this for looks. I have no other mods on the car.

Where can I find the caliper paint (some people say CT). It seems relatively cheap...$20 or so for a whole package? What type is best for my car? I think my calipers are still very clean so do I need to use all the wire brush etc to clean them. How do I paint the back of the caliper (ie. the end nearest to the car body)? It seems very tricky. ALso, I do not wnat to remove my calipers since I don't know how to put it back and I would need to "bleed" the system. I am only planning to remove the wheel.

I'm in Vancouver. If I were to bring it to a garage or whatever to get painted, how much would it cost me?

Please do not suggest that I change my brakes to Brembo's cuz that's not happening.


BTW, how do I post pics?

[seekay]

google is your friend...

http://www.carspace.com/guides/How-to-Paint-Brake-Calipers

[Atomic Chip]

Bright yellow would look better.

[Rekognize]

yellow is fine, i painted mine bronze :cool:

[astroboi]

I would recommend a brushed on laquer vs. sprayed paint...it'll last longer and be easier to clean. Try the Folia-Tec brand.

[ibanker]

make sure you get a white paint pen and write brembo on each of them as well. ;) jk

[Rekognize]

btw OP, put your flame suit on :lol:

[spookshow]

http://www.amazon.com/Dupli-Color-Performance-Brake-Caliper-Yellow/dp/B000B68V7W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1197578946&sr=8-3

that's the kit you want, cheap, and does a good job, it will be the one i pick up once i decide the colour i want (there are more colours on amazon, so i am sure there are more out there)

[B0000rt]

Man, you got me in the modding mood.

I'm going to paint mine black in the spring time.

I'm sure you can paint them while the hoses are still hooked up....

[cwb27]

Black is about then only colour you can get away with out people labeling you something you're not...

[bobbings]

paint it gold and white out the word brembo

paint it black and white out the nike symbol

[Rekognize]

or buy these (http://cgi.ebay.com/Brembo-brake-caliper-cover-Front-and-back-FPV-HSV_W0QQitemZ160190379489QQihZ006QQcategoryZ29695Q QtcZphotoQQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#eba yphotohosting) :lol:

[spookshow]

hahahahahahahahahomghahahaha*breath*hahahahahahaha ha

[bembol]

LOL



I use VHT, about 3-4 coatings back with my '02 Acura RSX.

Just make sure to Clean, Sand the Calipers really well. I read others use Primer and Sealant, it's up to you.

I went with Blue on my RSX since it was Silver. I'm painting my '08 Nissan Altima Coupe BLACK, it's the cleanest look.

[kleptodathief]

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c307/kleptodathief/coilovers/madfrontcamber.jpg

don't forget the red lugnutz and valve stem cover! :cheesygri

[ryyeung]

how did you post that picture?

i still don't have answers on some of my questions..many of you say not to paint it red?

will it not look nice?
i was thinking it would match the colour of my car

[ryyeung]

how did you post that picture, kleptodatheif???

also, is a spray paint better than paint....bembol said to use a spray but some say painting is better?? more accurate maybe?

also, how can i post a pic of my car calipers?

[ElvaSoShexai]

eh. for some reason, everyone here has this thing against doing anything except performance mods to cars. don't mind them.

imo. red or black or silver is ok. blue... green... yellow... i don't really like...

i used the duplicolor kit. it's a brush on

no matter how new ur car is, its a good idea to clean it. wire brush + the brake cleaner that comes w/ the duplicolor package is decent.

no need to remove caliper. u just tape off the areas u dun wanna paint. u paint behind the caliper by reaching ur hand behind it...

use @ least 4 coats and let ur car sit for 24+hrs so that it won't b as easy to chip/peel

[JetLi]

go to the duplicolor website, they will show you several videos. Like previous posters indicated, just clean it, tape off the area and the rotor, and paint on. Give it a good 30 minutes between coats, and put on about 4 coats. I did mine this past summer, and put on 4 coats, baked it for 2 hours at 200F in the oven and put on 2 more coats, waited over night and put them back on the car. Make sure you don't over paint the areas where your brake pads slide (sliders) else they will seize and jam up.

[hamant]

how did you post that picture?

i still don't have answers on some of my questions..many of you say not to paint it red?

will it not look nice?
i was thinking it would match the colour of my car

just do it whatever color you want... who cares what we have to say.. its your car

when someone asks you "why did you choose (insert color here)." what are you going to say?

'some people on the internet told me to..'

CT sells the kit, its $20. it will take you under 30 minutes to complete. The only addition I would recommend to the CT kit is by some brake cleaner to make sure the brakes are clean on dust.
I repaint mine every 2 years... im getting to the point I don't even take my rims off anymore to do.. just use a brush and call it aday

[Jeff-TheBiz]

you should check out the DIY section on:

torontomazda3.ca

mazda3forums.com

bcmazda3.ca

[ES_Revenge]

A word of warning. VHT generally stinks, lol. Well it's not bad but if you drive the car in the winter and you paint the calipers with VHT spray paint, it's gonna come off after a winter or two, guaranteed. You could spray VHT clear over it, to help it out, but really it's a waste of time because it's more than likely you'll be painting the calipers again in short order or just live with them looking bad.

Brush on caliper kits are much better. The one from Dupli-Color has ceramic in the paint which stays longer without getting chipped and with less chance of peeling.

However the best caliper paint is really the G2, 2-part epoxy paint kit. You can find this at various sites online and also on eBay. Just search for "G2 Caliper kit" or something similar. Since it's a 2-part epoxy-type paint it has much better durability and is much better for a car you drive all year round (i.e. through the winters).

[kleptodathief]

that g2 kit on tirerack is 56$ bux final shipped ups price to toronto!

is that a good price fs revenge? ur right after 2 years my red vht is chipping off...but it dpends if u cured it right..if u paint it and dry it under UV lite for several coats u won't get chipping/flaking .... cuz my rear ones r fine

[ryyeung]

it seems like many people seem to be repainting the calipers after a couple of years..how long does this stuff last??? is vht no good then??

i live in vancouver so there isn't always snow and salt so it won't errode the paint as much...more like rain

seems like the CT duplicolour is the best bet

[B0000rt]

To post pictures use the <IMG>http://imgurl.jpg</IMG> tags, but replace the < for [s... You'll need a 3rd party host like tinypic.com or someone else.

[ES_Revenge]

that g2 kit on tirerack is 56$ bux final shipped ups price to toronto!

Shipped UPS FTL as we all know :( What's TireRack's before-shipping price on it though? It goes for $38 normally on eBay, shipped to the US. From sellers that will ship to Canada it will probably be a bit more than that after shipping but I'm not sure if it would be as much as $56.

As for the curing of the paint I never really knew about UV doing anything for you, I'll look into that. As far as I knew it was just heat you needed and using the brakes (perhaps a little more agressively than normal) during the summer should provide enough heat to cure the paint (it even says that on the VHT can I believe).

What really sucks about paint on calipers (other than winter/elements) is the fact that brake fluid, it destroys paint. Even factory electrostatic-applied, fully cured, clear-coated, automotive body paint gets destroyed by brake fluid. So anytime you bleed your brakes to change pads and what not, you invariably get some fluid on the calipers which is going to wreck up the paint, even if you wash it off right away (which you don't want to do with a bleeder open because brake fluid absorbs water and that just makes your fluid worse).

I think (but I'm not sure) that the 2-part epoxy-type paint is not affected by brake fluid, or at least not as affected. Again I'm not 100% sure about that, but those epoxy paints for garages and stuff are supposed to be quite tough and it's not really traditional paint.