Paint calipers Red or leave black?

[23109VC]

I have a 2000 base.

I'm probably going to do my own brakes next weekend. I was debating on painting the calipers red while i have the wheels off and the brakes apart.

Suncoast has a kit I can buy along with my pads/rotors. it claims i don't even have to take the caliper off if I don't want to...although as I will be replacing the rotor, i'll have to at least remove it partially, although I probably won't take off my brake lines...

i guess I could get S/S lines and redo all the fluid - ah.more money to spend...

anyway - part of me wants to leave them black..although tehy kind of look dirty..but it woudl be kidn of cool to have red calipers. it would look nice. the S models have it factory...if I took my time and did it right, it would turn out nice.

i can order the Porsche stickers to put back on and make it look OEM.

do most of you find it tasteful, or tacky?

my car is ocean blue, with black interior. the whole car is either black/blue..so part of me thinks having black calipers somewhat just ties in the whole look and red would perhaps stand out too much and look out of place.

any thoughts? i also don't want to do it myself and make it look crummy. i have seen "homemade" caliper paint kits that look all sloppy and patchy and very poor quality. that looks terrible. if that is how most of these DIY jobs come out, i'll pass.

thanks for any suggestions or comments.

[angman]

Its very easy to do without having to remove anything. All you have to do is ensure you get things really clean. I used the duplicolor kit that cost me about $35 and it looks great. I haven't found the need to add a clearcoat either and the Ebay Porsche stickers in white from Xenon Mods work and stay on perfectly. The high heat from the calipers in a way cures the paint and makes it look all glossy.

It really brought the car to life and since the stock calipers on the Boxster's are massive solid Brembo's to begin with it looks very good. I wouldn't do it on my BMW because the calipers aren't solid like ours.

I used a wire brush along with the brake cleaner from my kit. This literally took off the factory Porsche lettering when I scrubbed it hard. The factory black gets dull and needs a freshening up over time even if you don't want it in red.

I have an extra unused can of the red if you want it for $10. I bought an extra can but only used half of my first can using a couple of brushes and about 3-4 coats on each caliper. I still have plenty for any touch ups (which I have had to do when I chipped the paint when mounting my wheels back on). You will need to buy a can of brake cleaner though.

This is a simple one day job.

[Jaxonalden]

I think red calipers look great, if you like it thats all that matters!!

[23109VC]

so I could do this w/out taking the calipers off?

sounds like it wouldn't be so bad.

[aussieboxy]

It's a great mod. Looks fantastic, is easy, inexpensive & can be done in a few hours.

Here is the DIY walkthrough I did on mine.

Painting my brake calipers

[j.fro]

The stainless lines made a real difference in the way my brakes feel. They're much stiffer and the feel is certainly better than they were before. I really have to be hard on them to get full pedal travel. IMO, a very worthwhile/cost effective modification.

[FTD]

What is the durability of the DIY paint over having them powder coated? Has anyone had their painted calipers for a few years and have any comments on it?

[23109VC]

do I need to remove the pads to do this - or could i do it w/out taking pads off?

[E Kaplan]

Don't do it!
Of course liking or not liking the red calipers is a personal choice. I find the original silver calipers a classier look. I have a 2000 black/black and will keep the calipers original.
Eric

[Franco]

Hi, I did mine 4 years ago using red engine paint, clear coat, and stickers.

You can do it without removing the calipers, use a garbage bag to cover up everything around the calipers and a car cover.
The most important thing is cleaning the calipers to perfection with a good degreaser and after steel wool.

Stickers go on before the clear