Painting Calipers

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conscience
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Painting Calipers

Post by conscience »

Heya fellas. I recently got my FTO and the first job I've set myself is to paint the brake calipers. Are there any do's or don'ts I should know before I get to work?

I've had a bit of a search around on the net and it seems its fine to paint them with normal engine paint or something rather than forking out for the kits. You guys agree? Any particular brand of paint which has been particularly good or crap?

Cheers. :)
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Bennoz
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Post by Bennoz »

Hi Conscience,
I did mine just a few weeks back & I used the 'caliper paint' from Auto One. Its just a spray can & cost me $15 bucks - so far so good. Still looks good & hasn't warped or bubbled with the heat (and if your FTO is red then the Auto One caliper red is a real close match!) But yeah, engine paint would be ok too.

If your not pulling the calipers off to do it, then just try and avoid getting too much on the disc itself - smells real bad for a while otherwise... :wink:
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Post by jester »

Welcome Conscience, :lol:

Yeah this is a pretty easy job
not sure if youve been here already but it helped me:

http://www.funky-fto.co.uk/calipers.html

Just Remember -

- CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN!! thats v important- to get off ALL the crap on the caliper before u paint.

- I used the normal VHT caliper paint or engine paint-
like Bennoz said its bout 15-20bucks.
All these have high heat ratings - so u dont need to worry.

Good luck!
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fto617
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Post by fto617 »

hey guys i really want to do it too!!!
but i'm too scared to jack up the car
scared i might damage it if i slip[ it in the wrong place
anybody in sydney can help me???
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Boris
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Post by Boris »

It's not that hard to jack up a car mate! Just buy one of those large jacks!
Probably the hardest is to clean the calipers... that's about it...
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Bennoz
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Post by Bennoz »

Yeah, those scissor jack are a pain - make sure you're on a hard surface if using it. You need to put it along the cars seam (runs along the underside of the car) and there are 2 notches out of the seam to mark the place where the jack needs to go - theres one at the back and front of the car, just near the wheel arches :wink:
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fto617
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Post by fto617 »

can i use the jack dat came with the car in the boot???
i'm scared i cant put the bolts back on the wheel properly and it fly away when driving lol
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Post by EURO »

I used the jack that came with the car and its fine.

The wheel wont come offf.. kick the nuts back on so you can budge them by hand or alternately take them to a wheel and tyre place to double check they are tight enough.
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ph3var
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Post by ph3var »

Normally I would only use the standard jack in an emergancy because I have a snap-on trolley jack. Maybe you should use axel stands with it aswell.
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Bennoz
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Post by Bennoz »

ph3var wrote:I have a snap-on trolley jack
Hey big spenda! What did that set you back? Did you get the 1/2 or full tonner?

Sorry to go off topic folks! But I'm a sucker for nice tools...
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ph3var
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Post by ph3var »

When I say "I" I mean its my best mates and I steal it from him when ever I need it :)
Along with his "flank-drive plus" spanners and snap-on air tools.
Basically his shed is a paint shop with everything you could need, mostly snap-on and blue-point tools.

I remember when I worked with him the snap-on rep loved him so much he to was a sucker for them and I must admit they are by far the best tools.
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Post by Bennoz »

*Drools..*
I'm so gonna hijack one of the Snap On trucks when Im old an senile!! :P
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conscience
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Post by conscience »

Cool thanks guys. :D
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fto617
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Post by fto617 »

guys if i do take the caliper off would all the brake fluid come out???
or would i worry about air getting into the brake system???
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Bennoz
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Post by Bennoz »

If you undo the brake line, then yep, fluid everywhere & will require bleeding the system to put it back on. I try and avoid that by just removing all the bolts and having the caliper only attached to the car by the brake line. Its flexible & allows you to move it around when cleaning / painting :wink:
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AHJ
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Post by AHJ »

is there any place that can help me to paint the Calipers with a reasonable price? coz i duno how to DIY, seem so trouble. thanks!
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BuCkEt
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Post by BuCkEt »

This is what I thought as well...but in reality this is an incredibly EASY thing to do.


Step one: Jack up car and take wheel off

Step two: Remove as much dirt and brake dust off the caliper as possible this will help in keeping your new paint tidy for as long as possible

Step three: using a rag/newspaper, cover up the exposed parts of the brake disk. what you want to do here is pretty much cover up anything you don't want to paint, in this case it's everything except the caliper itself.

Step four: shake and spray baby.....let it dry and give it a few coats for a nicer look.

Step five: put every thing back together, after the caliper is dried of course!


This method took me about 10-15 minutes per wheel, and about an hour in total.....can take you even less time if you have more than one jack :wink:


Once you've finished take the car for a quick drive and use the brakes a bit....but don't be alarmed if a nasty smell arises, this generally means you have hit part of the disc with some paint and the smell will disapear in a little while (unless you went to town on the disc).


Only if you're really dedicated about this should you remove the caliper itself. Even then it just makes cleaning it a bit easier.
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AHJ
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Post by AHJ »

yup, it seem quite easy to do that, but it is so trouble for me, and i done have confidence to do it well :? . so wanna look for somewhere can do it for me in sydney
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BuCkEt
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Post by BuCkEt »

Doing a task like this will definately help your confidence in doing work on your own car.


It simply boils down to - take wheel off and spray the paint.

Do you really want to fork out your hard earned cash for something that simple :?:
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AHJ
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Post by AHJ »

haha, you are right :D
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