How to question re painting calipers

Before you start to flame me, hear me out.

I just bought a 2004 BMW 330i and the PO painted the calipers red. Not my cup of tea, not to mention that the paint has flaked quite a bit, so they look bad in general. Given that, I'd like to paint them black to clean them up. That said, I've never painted calipers and imagine there is a fairly painstaking process involved in cleaning them well first, in order to give the paint the best chance for success, as well as the choice of paint itself.

Has anyone pulled off a nice caliper paint job? If so, would you share your process with me? I'd also like to paint the hubs while in there, so tips on that front would be much appreciated as well.

Lastly - I used the google search tool for the GRM forums and couldn't find this topic discussed previously. If there is a thread out there that I missed, please feel free to direct me to it.

Dupli-Color makes a brush-on caliper painting kit. Comes with the cleaners, primer, paint, etc. Cheap, good, and available at your local NAPA / O'Reilly's / Pep Boys.

You're welcome.

I never looked real close at those duplicolor kits, didnt realize they came with all the cleaning stuff too, i might have to think about painting the next time im doing brakes.

Powdercoating? It will never come off, flake or be effected by brake fluid. You can do it in the privacy of your own home and it's even cheaper if you borrow someone else's kit.

I thought about trying out powder.. and I assume the Calipers wouldn't get to hot...

But how much heat are we talking about withstanding... I have never measured it?

I used spray on red from advance auto. There was a ton left over so i.... I kinda got carried away and painted my trucks drive shaft.... Ummm... No flaking on the calipers out the shaft!

Javelin wrote: Dupli-Color makes a brush-on caliper painting kit. Comes with the cleaners, primer, paint, etc. Cheap, good, and available at your local NAPA / O'Reilly's / Pep Boys. You're welcome.

Sounds like a winner to me! Thanks.

Easy Ghetto Way.

Pull off the wheel, Brake Clean caliper. Do not mask, unbolt, or anything.

Spray visibile area of caliper.

Reinstall wheel

Repeat every spring.

I just wirebrushed mine and cleaned them with brake cleaner, and they're not flaking yet. I used high-temp black paint to go along with the general sleeper theme.

I used FoliaTech, which is more a 2 part epoxy than a paint. I have never had an issue with it flaking

i've used barbecue grill paint and i've used duplicolor caliper paint. brakleen, then paint. no appreciable difference in durability between the grill paint and the caliper paint. grill paint is flat, so i use it when i want the part to disappear. caliper paint is more glossy, so i use it when i want the part to be noticed.

We did all four calipers on the g/f's MCS a number of years ago. 2004, I think. We pulled them and broke them down, caliper and carriers and cleaned and painted them off the car. Yes, it meant the car was out of service for a couple of days, but 9 years later the paint still looks good. The paint kit was something she found online as kits weren't sold at FLAPS back then.

Like any painting project, prep is everything. It was also a bit easier since the car was maybe a year old at the time so the brake dust hadn't been baked on over years.

Brake dust does seem to be easier to clean off gloss painted calipers.

Thanks guys. I'll be sure to prep well!

wire brush + simple green + garden hose rinse + soda blast + masking tape + rustoleum caliper paint

G2 makes good caliper paint. I helped a friend apply some on his car and I'm thinking of picking some up for my Mazdaspeed3. You basically mix the paint with an activator and brush it onto the caliper. You don't even have to remove the calipers (though I would, because I'm a perfectionist like that). There's no need for a clearcoat and it's very tough as long as you prep the caliper correctly.

Also, if you are painting the brake rotors and they look like this, you're doing it wrong:

*** first stop will take care of the paint on the surface of the rotors

914Driver wrote: Powdercoating? It will never come off, flake or be effected by brake fluid. You can do it in the privacy of your own home and it's even cheaper if you borrow someone else's kit.

What is prep like? Oven temps lower than brake temps? or take it all apart and rebuild?