Caliper painting, the real deal.
 

I finally had some time this weekend to refinish my calipers. Most know last summer, a bad detailer put something on the wheels that completely ate the clear off of my calipers.

The project went smoothly and results are awesome!

Here is a step by step with some pix if interested! As a warning, this was done in my collision center and by a professional painter.

1 I cleaned the wheels and calipers while the car was on the ground with normal soap and water.
2 We brought the car into one of our Prep kleen downdraft paint stations.
3 This particular booth has a nice sliding lift.
4 We raised the car and removed the wheels.
5 Then the fun began with the Brake Cleaner. Be advised, I went through at least 5 cans of cleaner.
6 I went back and forth with brake cleaner, air, an acid brush and toothbrush getting in all the nooks and crannies. Prep is extremely important for achieving a nice finish.
7 I spent about 15 to 20 minutes per caliper with the cleaning.
8 Once clean, we used M600 surface cleaner. This takes care of any surface contaminants.
9 We went over the entire caliper surface with a light D/A to remove any chunky materials.
10 We carefully masked the calipers on the vehicle. I didnt feel the need to remove them based on the amount of clearance around the rotor and in the wheelhouses.
11 An epoxy primer was used in colorbuild the same color as the base coat.
12 I choose the color from one of our Sikkens color variant charts. I used a Volkswagon red two stage urethane.
13 Once the primer was prepped, the painter sprayed the base coat covering all paintable areas.
14 The base baked in the booth for about 20 minutes.
15 I then took the transfer decals and applied them in exactly the same manner and pattern as factory.
16 Once decals were applied, the painter then layed down 3 coats of clear coat. We added some flex agent in the clear to give it some expansion and contraction properties in case of extreme heat.
17 Once the clear was applied, we cranked up the booth to 160 and let the car bake for about 45 min to 1 hr.
18 I then removed the masking materials and let the car cool before reinstalling the freshly cleaned wheels.

I am very pleased! They look better then the day I got the car!
If anyone is interested, I have an extra set of decals. Just shoot me a PM.

Cheers!

More Pix!

Enjoy!

Final Set!
Enjoy!

Wow, those came out great, wish I had a facility like that to take care of mine. :cheers:


My rear calipers look fine but the front ones are faded bad. I'm thinking of removing them to repaint.

Awesome job...they look great.

I did just that today and it sure is a long, tedious and painful process.
the calipers are hanging to dry right now and will clear coat tomorrow.
The cleaning part is the worse and takes forever!

Michael

6 cans of brake fluid, thinner and M600. I was not eco friendly during the process.

Best of luck!

On a side note, 1 week later, they are holding up fantastic. No signs of failure anywhere. I didnt want to have to go thru that again.

i am so tempted to paint mine. but nervous that it won't look good. how long did it take total? can i finish in one afternoon, instead of whole weekend.

You're really pushing me into painting mine yellow.

Where did you get those decals? Are they heat resistant? Are they just sticker type or something else?

Thanks my friend.