I was sitting at Chili's with a good buddy having lunch when he looked at my car and suggested I paint the brake calipers either red or gold to go with the WR Blue. It got me thinking about possibly doing this when I swap back to summer tires in the next month or so. I've seen some caliper paint kits and thought it might not be a bad aesthetic mod to do. Powder coating is not likely an option since my car is a daily driver and I can't be without a running vehicle. Anyone have recommendations of paints to use? Or perhaps not to bother with this at all? Honestly, I could leave the calipers as they are. I had never been bothered by the way unpainted calipers look, but I figured it was something I could do while swapping out to summers.
I tried it with silver brake caliper paint or high temp engine enamel, I think. However, needs touch up annually due to rust and salt.
What he said!^ Also, if you do do them, you can definitely do them on the car with some masking and some cardboard to protect from overspray. You just need to remove the calipers from the brackets and the pads need to come off. I used high temp VHT paint when I did mine.
Stock set of calipers are not all that expensive. If your going to do it do ir right and powder coat them.
So paint will need annual retouching to fight corrosion and wear&tear, but a powder coat won't? There's an idea. Would Ceracoat make sense here, since brakes are a high temp application? No issues with powder coating getting "cooked"? Not doubting you here, just curious since I know nothing about powder coat and metal finishes in general. Does replacing the calipers require a lot of work? I've never replaced calipers before. If I were to do this, I'd probably go for a finish that is as durable as possible and require minimal maintenance. I still haven't even gotten around to buying the abrasive sprayer to strip out the mesh grille to bring to you for a powder coat. To add to my buddy's suggestion further, would it be possible to do a brake swap from a STI? Not that I likely ever would, but just curious if possible.
I did my bugeye and a friend's RX-8 with some brush-on ceramic paint from O'Reilly's and it worked nicely. I couldn't say how it holds up to daily use or salt though. I'd second @JasonoJordan 's recommendation and go with powdercoating if at all possible. It gives you a more durable finish and a much wider range of colors to choose from. If you ask nicely you might even find someone on MNSubaru that could hook you up. As far as the STI brake swap, I would start by just upgrading the pads, adding stainless lines, and maybe a master cylinder brace. Unless you're regularly tracking your car that would be plenty to give you some added bite and better brake feel (not to mention it'd be easier and WAY cheaper).
You'll need two new crush washers per caliper. It's very straight forward. Break the brake line banjo bolt loose while the caliper is still tight in the bracket (so you've got some free leverage). Then remove the caliper from the bracket. Disconnect the brake line banjo bolt the rest of the way. New crush washer goes on each side of the the brake line fitting. Install new caliper onto bracket. Bleed. If you do end up going with SS lines at the same time, the Goodridge ones come with new banjo bolts and crush washers. Not sure about other brands, tho.
Also to powder coat the calipers have to be disassembled because you dont want oil in them when you bake them as well as the seals wont hold up to the temps of powder coating. So if you are looking to do this you can save some money and just buy ones that need rebuild anyway.
My personal opinion: not a fan of painted stock calipers. Brembos are fine, even Subaru 4 pots, but the smaller calipers painted (any color other than black) seems kinda ricey to me. However, if you're going to do it, powder is the way to go. I'd say cerakote would be overkill. I have seen powder coat get cooked off of calipers from a very abusive track day, but you'd have to really put a beating on them to make that happen. As mentioned, in order to powder coat the calipers need to be completely disassembled and cleaned (full rebuild with seals and all) otherwise the brake fluid will ruin your coating during the curing process.
I've painted mine a few time. Yep, it will need to be redone to look nice. I think it is a pain in the ass. Unless you are going to go the correct route and have them powder coated, don't bother. I spent a lot of time the first go around with grinding and sanding to remove a lot of the casting marks on the stock set. Again, pain in the ass. One HPDE day at Brainerd pretty much undid all the work I put into them. Discolored due to heat and brake dust. If you want colored brake calipers, powder coat.
I'm also not a big fan of red or orange or yellow stock calipers. But I'm really not a fan of rusty stock calipers So, I try to put a coat of black POR15 on calipers whenever I have them off the car. The calipers on my Celica were painted 3 or 4 years ago, and daily driven through 2 winters since then, and it's held up VERY well.
Thanks much for the very informative replies, everyone! I guess going to STI brakes is out. I don't track the the car nor do I really ever plan to. Both sets of wheels are 18", but I would need larger ones to clear the Brembo calipers? Yeah, no thanks. Way too expensive for me. I'd just as well wait to see if Subaru ever releases a STI hatch in a few years and just get that. Sounds like powder coating is the way to go if I want a low-maintenance finish. Not sure it would be worth buying a spare set of calipers just to have them coated for a little bit of bling through the wheels. If I were to buy new calipers, I would imagine it would make more sense to get nicer upgrades rather than just stock ones. For someone who doesn't drive hard or track their car, is there any reason to ever upgrade brakes other than moving to better pads, brake lines, brake fluid, and rotors? I've heard people say the drilled/slotted rotors are the best, but said buddy who tracks his 911 turbo showed me his drilled rotor that had a bunch of tiny cracks around the drilled holes. Seems like solid rotors are the way to go and the drilled/slotted stuff is mostly for show. I don't know if the pro teams use the fancy rotors. At any rate, I mostly pick up and drop off my kids at daycare, go to work, pick up groceries, and pretty much stay 75 and below. Man, I'm so boring... POR15 sounds like a good idea. I hate rust and will take extra steps to try and prevent and destroy it whenever I find it on my car. If I were to use POR15 on the calipers, would I have to take them off, disassemble them, etc. prior to painting? Or can this be done on the car? Black would be just fine with me and especially nice if it will mean rust prevention down the road. (My old '98 RAV4's calipers really didn't show signs of corrosion, but the rear drums looked like some relic dredged up from the ocean floor. Never painted them cause I thought painted drums is just bad rice.)
One reason I painted my calipers was I had gotten rebuilt calipers which did not match. One was more gray with gray brackets, one was gray with a gold bracket. I didn't want anything too flashy and loud, but not muted gray either. So I did silver. Looked nice until they started kinda rusting.
POR15 can be painted right over rust, and is a brush-on paint. So no, no disassembly required. Take off the wheel, clean off the loose debris from the caliper with a wire brush and some brake clean, and apply paint. Like I said, I do it anytime I have a caliper off the car (I buy the POR15 six pack and use it all the time) so I can paint basically all the surface area of the caliper, but you could do the visible part very easily off the car. Just keep the paint off the rotor....
One thing about por 15 is the "regular" stuff isn't meant to be exposed to UV light, so you'll either have to topcoat it with something or get one of the "better" por 15 products.
Awesome. Sounds like POR15 is going to work wonderfully. So I can use regular brake cleaner and a wire brush to clean the calipers well, then use POR15 and top coat it. Is this the correct product?: https://www.amazon.com/POR-15-45004-Gloss-black-Preventive/dp/B00H2VVL0S And this is the top coat that is UV-resistant: https://www.amazon.com/POR-15-45904...rd_wg=bn4Il&psc=1&refRID=NPWW1TRRACYWMH69E26V Looks like the Topcoat chassis black POR15 is the "better" product since the description says it doesn't require an undercoat or topcoat.
Por15 also makes a line of cleaners and prep products specifically for their products (as found out by going to my local auto paint supplier). I'm assuming they're not "required" by any means, but worth considering I guess. I personally would probably just clean off as much as I could, hit it with the brake clean, and then maybe a light degreaser or something. Any prep work you do is better than no prep work, which is what most people do.
Thanks. Fortunately, my car is a 2017 and we had a relatively mild winter thus far so I'm not expecting having to clean a lot of crud off the calipers.
POR15 will fade in sunlight if not top-coated. I painted a simple fog light bracket for my Celica with it, and daily use it did noticeably fade over the course of the 4 years that it was on the car. But I think brake calipers get direct sunlight so rarely, that I wouldn't worry about top coating it. A quart is a LOT of paint. And POR15 doesn't store well, once it's opened it's very susceptible to moisture. They say that one drop of water/sweat will ruin a whole can....So I buy the 6-pack of 4 oz cans (linked in my last post). One 4 oz can was plenty to cover the rust around the rear wheel wells and rockers on my 4runner with 2 coats (I top-coated that project with bedliner)... They do offer prep products, Marine Clean (I think they've changed the name...but whatever) and Metal Ready. I do use these on larger projects, and anytime I grind/blast to bare metal. A gallon of each has lasted me probably 10 years.
After you open it the first time, you'll need a chisel and hammer to open it again. I can see how the smaller cans would be nice instead of the larger ones for this reason. I've heard using some saran wrap over the opening before putting the lid back on helps with ease of reopening, although I've never tried.
Thanks guys. I was thinking maybe I could store unused POR15 in a Ball canning jar? I'd just be careful not to get any on the threads or near the top at the seal. Figured they ought to be good for keeping moisture out for a few years.
If you end up going with that 6 pack of small cans for some reason, I'd be interested in maybe going in on it and splitting the cost. Might take one or two? Just did my rear brakes today with new rotors and caliper brackets. Old calipers look like turds now compared to everything else.
Sure, you can have a couple. My mother-in-law cans what she grows in her garden so we have a decent supply of jars. I know we had given a bunch back to her over Christmas when we visited. Think I still have some smaller jam jars you can have if that works.
I'll be getting my car back from the body shop next week and will probably get to swapping out the winters with summer tires next weekend. I have my POR15 UV-resistant chassis black paint ready to go and some jars for storing extra. I have a bunch of small disposable brushes to apply the POR15 with, but should I use a foam applicator to avoid brush marks, or will this stuff eat a foam applicator?
I've used foam applicators without issue. A brush may work just as well. POR15 really levels out nicely so you shouldn't see any brush marks either way.
Thanks. How many coats you guys recommend? I'm not doing this with so much the idea of dressing up the calipers, more to prevent rust from eventually rearing its ugly head.
It covers pretty well. Maybe 2-3 coats, waiting between coats until the paint is tacky (30 mins to an hour or so in between coats...it takes a good full 24hrs to fully dry).
I'm going to pick up cleaning supplies today for the caliper job. I read brake cleaner works well for removing the stuff soap and water doesn't get off. I couldn't find any mention on chlorinated vs. non-chlorinated brake cleaner being better. I plan to grab some brass bristle brushes, scouring pads, and the brake cleaner. The tutorials I've seen recommend starting with the soapy water wash, followed by a thorough drying with a heat gun. Then use brake cleaner and allow to fully dry, then tape up rubber parts and the brake shoes and rotors and then paint. Allow the paint to dry at least overnight before driving. Sound about right?
I had yesterday planned for tire swap and painting the calipers, but my kids were going stir crazy inside the house and my wife made us go out with them to burn off energy, so I ended up only having enough time to put on one coat of POR15. There was already small amounts of rust on the bottom part of the calipers and a little dirt. Nothing the soapy water, heavy duty scrubbers, and brake cleaner couldn't take off. I masked off all parts that were not solid caliper and used Q-tips and foam applicator (I had some small brushes, but my kids found them and before I could use them and that was that). Definitely not a great first attempt as the thin first coat was not able to hide the pebbly texture of the caliper underneath. It was cold and drizzly so I'm sure that made the POR15 dry more slowly. I'm hoping to have more time later on on a warmer drier day to pop the wheels off again and hit the calipers with a second and perhaps third coat. If nothing else, I am just hoping the POR15 will prevent more rust from forming. Overall, not a completely terrible paint job. Looks crappy up close to me, but from a pedestrian distance, it doesn't look too bad. I like the black stealthy look better than a blingy gold or red.
