Question for those who have painted their own calipers- - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Boxtaboy · 04-24-2008, 04:48 PM

Hi guys- need some help please. In the next few weeks, I'm hoping to use the G2 Caliper paint system (paint brush method) to color my brake calipers red. The instructions say that after I finish putting 3 coats on, I must let them dry for 2 hrs, and then not even drive the car for 24 hrs. before driving the car. Is it necessary to not drive the car for 24 hrs before driving it?

Reason I ask is because I live in NYC, and I can't do the job at my parking garage, and instead must complete the job at a friend's house, but don't want to leave the car there 24hrs before I can drive off. Does it really take that long for the paint to cure?

Thanks in advance.

CT986S · 04-24-2008, 05:16 PM

I can't help with this particular brand, but I painted my Miata upgraded (and then abused!) brakes with high temp caliper paint and had no prbs with just one coat. The main piece of advice I would have is that ALL grease,dirt, whatever must be cleaned from the caliper before any paint is applied. I am not talking about a quick wash and brush, but rather a complete cleaning with solvents. You can NOT get any of this on the pads and/or some of the other parts, so I would recommend rebuilding the caliper as part of the project. It really isn't any more involved than just the dis-assmbley for painting, and will allow you to sleep at night. The 24 hour wait seems to me to be to allow the paint to dry. If you drove it before the paint sets you very well could get cr4p on the paint that would then "cure" onto the caliper.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boxtaboy

Hi guys- need some help please. In the next few weeks, I'm hoping to use the G2 Caliper paint system (paint brush method) to color my brake calipers red. The instructions say that after I finish putting 3 coats on, I must let them dry for 2 hrs, and then not even drive the car for 24 hrs. before driving the car. Is it necessary to not drive the car for 24 hrs before driving it?

Reason I ask is because I live in NYC, and I can't do the job at my parking garage, and instead must complete the job at a friend's house, but don't want to leave the car there 24hrs before I can drive off. Does it really take that long for the paint to cure?

Thanks in advance.

Boxtaboy · 04-24-2008, 05:50 PM

Thanks man. Guess I may need to hold off on this project until I can get my own garage where I can leave the car on jacks overnight.

Rareair · 04-24-2008, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boxtaboy

Thanks man. Guess I may need to hold off on this project until I can get my own garage where I can leave the car on jacks overnight.

Since you live in New York, simply leave the car in Harlem, Queens, Brooklyn or any of the other burroughs overnight and you're car will be on jack stands

Lil bastard · 04-24-2008, 10:14 PM

I did mine with the G2 system.

I removed the calipers, cleaned them with a Brass brush and lots of solvent (Brake Cleaner).

Then, I took a 2X4 and drilled 4 holes in it. Got some bolts from the hardware store which fit the Brake Line taps and mounted the calipers on it. This made it easy to paint both sides w/o having to set them down while wet.

The window for using this paint is really under 3 hrs. and mounting the calipers allowed me to put on 3 coats in that time before the epoxy became too hard to apply with a brush.

The G2 system is an epoxy paint and rather than dry, it cures. Depending upon temperature and humdity, this can take up to 24 hrs., though it dried to a tack in 1 hr. and to the touch in about 4. I suspect that you could do it and drive the car, very easily, in 4-5 hrs. back to your regular garage. Of course, you'd have to allow another hour for remounting and bleeding - a good time to change the fluid if it's more than 2 yrs. old.

Boxtaboy · 04-25-2008, 03:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil bastard

I did mine with the G2 system.

I removed the calipers, cleaned them with a Brass brush and lots of solvent (Brake Cleaner).

Then, I took a 2X4 and drilled 4 holes in it. Got some bolts from the hardware store which fit the Brake Line taps and mounted the calipers on it. This made it easy to paint both sides w/o having to set them down while wet.

The window for using this paint is really under 3 hrs. and mounting the calipers allowed me to put on 3 coats in that time before the epoxy became too hard to apply with a brush.

The G2 system is an epoxy paint and rather than dry, it cures. Depending upon temperature and humdity, this can take up to 24 hrs., though it dried to a tack in 1 hr. and to the touch in about 4. I suspect that you could do it and drive the car, very easily, in 4-5 hrs. back to your regular garage. Of course, you'd have to allow another hour for remounting and bleeding - a good time to change the fluid if it's more than 2 yrs. old.

Thanks. I was hoping it would be a faster job, but looks like it'll be a whole day thing for me. Appreciate the tips!

jmatta · 04-25-2008, 04:57 AM

Perhaps you could just buy red calipers and be done with it?

Boxtaboy · 04-25-2008, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmatta

Perhaps you could just buy red calipers and be done with it?

Thanks, but my objective is to not even have to pull the calipers from the car, as I've heard some stories about people having trouble with the caliper bolts, and I don't want the car to be out of commission for any length of time.

Frankly, I don't care if the paint job on the calipers is perfect or not, just looking good at a distance is sufficient. This is why I bought the G2 kit. Plus, at $36 bucks for the G2 kit, and $8 bucks for the white Porsche decals, I'm guessing that it'll be cheaper than buying red calipers as well.