chopper202

Hey I painted my brakes today i only got around to doing the rear drums
the finish i came up with isnt to shaby but the front brake will be a completley different story tomorrow.. People say u can paint it whilst still on the car, while some others say u can take the caliper off the car, is this as easy as it sounds.... and which painting method comes up with the best finish spray or brush??? and time isnt a factor with this project so i got time to do it right.... cheers for any help...

TRIZ

iTrader: (14)

looks pretty good if you want your drums painted.

as for the painting of the fronts- you can paint them on the car if you want, you have to do a lot of taping and and protect aginst overspray... you dont want to use a can and have your rear quarter panel catch some of the paint spray because of a little breeze. I havent dont my fronts, but I rather use a spray then anything brush on. Spray cans are much easier for applying even coats, and you dont get the brissel marks when your done- which eliminates the need for sanding the finished product.

anyways, I guess its preference- as long as you can find the paint you want for the application your working on.

chopper202

Say i paint it on the car, are there certain things that can not be sprayed, ill be spraying the calipar part but where u can see the brake pads through the calipar do i have to avoid spraying parts like that... I know u said that u didnt spray ur fronts but im assuming u have discs on the rear.

speedfoos

iTrader: (17)

Just my .02 but I would use a brushable paint on the calipers. Less worry about overspray, you don't have to tape off as much, and you can definitely leave them on the car when you do it. Just head down to Wally World or Home Depot, and pick up a can of Rustoleum enamel in your favorite JDM yellow and paint away. Its how I did mine (black that is).

I took my drums when I sprayed them.

on your drums by the way.

TRIZ

iTrader: (14)

I dont have discs in the rear, sadly.

if you google it, there is a TON of info on how to do this.

chopper202

i ended up keeping them on the car and i did it with a spray can sice it was all that i had, It didnt come up to bad... the only problem i came ascross was that I sprayed a little through the caliper as u can see in the pic.... does anyone know how to get it off.. cheers for all ur help guys.

Boilermaker1

iTrader: (16)

Well it looks already done, but I'll post this anyways. Take them off the car and disassemble them before you paint them. The reason being that you can gum up the pins with paint and the caliper can jam. Under those boots are the floating pins that the caliper rides on. If/when you paint the caliper, take the sliding assembly apart by removing the bolts holding the pins, then remove the pins and boots the plug the hole in the floating bracket. Also tape off the inner face of the caliper with the piston and the brake line and bleeder holes. THEN paint it.
My friend just bought a Camaro and the dealer thought it would be cute to paint the calipers red without removing anything.... we were none too pleased disassembling and changing all those floating pins because the paint got in there.

speedfoos

iTrader: (17)

Wire brush attached to a drill will take that paint off. Just don't grind it down on the rotor or you'll be in for some brake issues.

DDragon7

My .02, having painted my brakes while still on, no problems yet, it took me alot of time just to mask everything off. Also when I was spraying its hard to spray some places evenly, like the back parts. After seeing my cousin paint his with a brush, it looks way better, was faster since it was minimal masking, thicker coat too and most parts were painted. Plus the brush marks that people say arent really noticeable.

TRIZ

iTrader: (14)

^ yeah, brush marks depend on how shitty your brush and paint are.

Looks like they came out pretty decent, you gotta little spot on your tire too- I wonder where else you got paint!! haha, looks good though bro.

RHCP0801

iTrader: (3)

should've just done flat black

chopper202

nah its not paint on the tyres i replaced them only 3 days ago and the still look brand new with little paint makers on them for some reason.. i made sure that i masked every thing except when i had a brain explosion and didnt see the little hole in the caliper and sprayed right through it..

Honda2k4

i think he meant the rim, i see a couple red spots on there(the 2nd pic you posted)

chopper202

Yer I see wat u mean now I went out and it came straight off I think it happned when I was doing one of the coats and when I put the rim back on I must have touched the wet paint and it transfered onto the rim but its no trouble now sice it came straight off... Thanks for the heads up.

LT2004ever

iTrader: (2)

very nice im painting mine black as soon as i get some more money saved up

Kevbotron

iTrader: (1)

ehhh on painting drums red maybe it's just me, but drums aren't really something you want to show off

my avatar show my calipers painted blue, it's a nice lil' mod that doesn't take long to do but looks nice

Alpha 5

iTrader: (8)

True, True, If you have rear drums then the front calipers should be black along with the rear drums. If you have disk brakes all around then go red. Yellow is NEVER the answer. I have seen cars with the brake components painted the same color as the car, I don't really like this either. Just my .02

chopper202

Yer I wasent keen on painting the drums either. I had money saved up to do a conversion... But I was driving along the freeway behind a truck with a tarp over its load and chunk of wood or something fell out the back, and bounced up ran across my bonet and struck my windscrene just below where it meets the roof and shattered it almost the full way across. So that is were the money went instead of a drum to disc conversion which really got me f***ed off. So I figured if I can paint them now just because I can and do a conversion later..
And I highly agree "yellow is never the answer"...

LT2004ever

iTrader: (2)

ouch....

makes u wanna the trucks driver/owner

YUL

ya, red sticks out a lot, especially on the rear drums.

I painted mine a couple years ago in black while keeping my brakes on.

the paint chips a bit, but i just did touch ups once a year.

chopper202

About the chips... how many coats did you do???. My friend & me did his a while back on his ute.. he drives around work sites and all that... & he hasent had any problems so far but we did 4 coats with a clear finish, which is also what i did on mine so im not sure if they chip but it dosent show through or what... but im happy with the finish I came up with.. And abot them stickin out I get comments bout them all the time even from people I dont know. there mostly good but there will always be people out there that are gonna put you down... But hey I love em sooo yer

texascivic2k1

iTrader: (10)

With mine I did two coats of primer then 3 or 4 coats of paint and 2 or 3 coats of clear. The advantage with my application was mine was already off the car and could take my time with them and do it correctly the first time and FULLY disassembled. Here are some pics just to share.... (sorry some pics are blurry)

Before... (They were black when I bought them used)

Honda2k4

^ very nice setup, i like alot

LT2004ever

iTrader: (2)

truth, i like them as well.

chopper202

Dude they look sic nice job you did with them... good work..

chopper202

Just a question about your rims what kind are they and how much did they set you back... im looking around for a set like that for my car I love the black look... Cheers

texascivic2k1

iTrader: (10)

Thanks for the complements on the brakes guys!


My rims are 18" x 7.5" Motegi FF7's Glossy Black with a polished lip. I bought a set of 5 wheels w/tire for $1,200. Yeah IMO the black on black look has a very "stealth" look. If you want to know more about my set up just look at my profile... I keep it updated.

chopper202

Another question about your calipers... With the wilwood logo did you do the primer than the 2 or 3 coats of red than use the grinder tool that you used at the start to remove the black to grind back to the primer than sprayit all with a clear coat to seal it all.... But by doing that I imagine where you grinded back the wilwood logo it would start to chip or flake off over time due to the fact that there is not really any paint over the primer.... so how did you do it???