caliper painting guide

sean1141

I was painting the calipers on my car today so I said I would do a guide for anyone interested in doing this.

Its very simple and cheap and if you car has alloys it gives it a fresh look.

You only need some bacic stuff and it can all be purchsed for less than 20 euro.

You will need:
1 250ml tin of direct to rust metal paint in the colour of your choice. Hammerite and Tri flow are the usual ones that are sold here. I used smooth finish. There is also a hammered finish. About 10-12 euro

1 wire brush avilable in most hardware/diy shops. 3 euro

Disposable dust mask. Again only 1-2 euro.

1/2 inch paint brush. 2-3 euro



Start off by removing the wheel from the car and support the car on an axle stand or solid block of wood. Do not depend on the jack.
Once the wheel is off you will be faced with something like this.


Take your wire brush and give it a good clean down. There will be a lot of dust so this is where the mask comes in!


When your finished you will be left with something like this



You just need to get the loose dirt and rust off the caliper and carrier. You dont have to go mad. About 5 mins gave me the result above.

Next take your paint and start painting.



Be carefull and try avoid getting paint on the disk and if there is no covers on the brake bleed nipples dont get paint on them either.

Here is the caliper carrier done



And complete



And the rear




I put on two coats of paint. Carefully refit the wheel and move to the next wheel.
The same applies if your car has drum brakes on the rear.

I hope this helps someone!

Ded_Zebra

Was thinking of painting mine but thought that you would need heat proof paint.

How long would you expect the Hammerite to last on them?

sean1141

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

Was thinking of painting mine but thought that you would need heat proof paint.

How long would you expect the Hammerite to last on them?

I painted my mates 206 about 6 year ago. It got 1 coat and it's still on them. I done all my cars with it and never had a problem. You might have problems if it was a track car but not a daily driver!

Owen

I've only done a few sets, but I generally use high temp paint which is sold as exhaust manifold paint.

sean1141

I have done about 15 cars with hammerite with no problems. I have also painted exhaust manifolds on vintage tractors with it with no problems as they are generaly not worked hard for the manifold to get very hot.

Chris_Heilong

Will be doing mine in red soon, but think I will use heat resistant paint.

sean1141

sean1141 wrote: »

I painted my mates 206 about 6 year ago. It got 1 coat and it's still on them. I done all my cars with it and never had a problem. You might have problems if it was a track car but not a daily driver!

This is the 206 I done for my mate. I done it over 6 year ago. He drove it for 3 years and my dad has had it for the last 3. They were never repainted. Only one coat of hammerite smooth red. My mate had alloys on it so they might have been washed an odd time when he had it but it would never have been washed with wheel cleaner etc. Dad has steel wheels on it and the car was washed about 4 times in the 3 years he has had it:eek:

This is what they looked like when I took off the wheel


Sprayed on some auto glym wheel cleaner and wiped down with a rag



Not bad for 6 years of neglet

Nissan doctor

Hammerite is better then most of the high temp paints IMO.

I used in on the calipers on my old skyline and they remained perfect for 4 years until I started doing a lot of track days. The hammerite still didn't crack or flake, its just went off colour from the extreme heat. Having said that, the day that it happened I had a set of cheap brake pads catch fire so I think the paint on the calipers did pretty well:eek:

abcdef1

Sorry to bring this thread up from the dead but Sean, quick question I used the same "Triflow Metal Paint" you used and have done two callipers thus far however just noticed it says nothing on the tin about it being heat resistant, did yours last long ? Cheers

Mc Love

Great guide! Must get some axle stands!

sean1141

abcdef1 wrote: »

Sorry to bring this thread up from the dead but Sean, quick question I used the same "Triflow Metal Paint" you used and have done two callipers thus far however just noticed it says nothing on the tin about it being heat resistant, did yours last long ? Cheers

Its the same as the hammerite paint below

sean1141 wrote: »

This is the 206 I done for my mate. I done it over 6 year ago. He drove it for 3 years and my dad has had it for the last 3. They were never repainted. Only one coat of hammerite smooth red. My mate had alloys on it so they might have been washed an odd time when he had it but it would never have been washed with wheel cleaner etc. Dad has steel wheels on it and the car was washed about 4 times in the 3 years he has had it:eek:

This is what they looked like when I took off the wheel


Sprayed on some auto glym wheel cleaner and wiped down with a rag



Not bad for 6 years of neglet

vectra

Tri Flo paint is great on Calipers.