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Painting brake calipers

sbloxxy

New member
Has anyone sucessfully tried painting/cosmetic renovation of brake calipers? Mine are currently finished in black and look quite scruffy - it looks as though the lacquer is peeling off and the 'Porsche' badge has all but dissappeared. You can buy kits from a number of places but does anyone have any experience of these? Does the paint stand up to the heat and do they look any good? I'd quite like to change the caliper colour to red but it will only look decent if its done properly. I also notice that Design 911 sell the correct 'Porsche' decals. Any advice gratefully received.
 
I painted mine by hand four years ago and they still look just as they were when I painted them. I prepared them first and used a laquer designed for the job with heat to cure the paint. I can't remember the name of the product it was French, there are plenty of kits out there so research carefully for the most recommended make.
 
Painted mine with Foliatec yellow paint some 6 months ago, it's not the easiest task in the world as the hardner plays tricks with the paint, too liquid to start, very stiff after 5 minutes.

However they look pretty good.

I alos got some vinyl stickers to say Porsche and put those on, and they've done the job admirably.

Kevin.
 
As long as you prepare it well it will stay on. I did it last year with a kit i got from auto care about £17 ,as kevin said the hardener was a pain because you have to work fast but the end results were well worth it

Ian
 
I had them done professionally, not cheap but they look as good as a 997's. Only done a month ago so can't comment on longevity.



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Painted mine on a previous car,used foliatec with very good results but all the work is in the preparation, repainting is the easy part, sorced the decals from www. xenonmods.com, $8 for a set of six if memory serves.Gave them a few coats of heat resistant clear lacquor over the top of the decals as well, leave a colour change to the pro's though.

Hope this helps,

cheers, Kevin.
 
If you just want to restore the black finish, clean them up and apply a coat of laqueur, I used just ordinary automotive stuff, and they look a whole lot better. It covers and hides the flaking laqueur too.

JH
 
A friend and 964 PCGB owner Andy Glastonbury has givene the following instructions :

Jack-up car, remove wheel, but do not remove the caliper. Removing the
caliper makes job 10 times harder and was not recommended by either
specialist I talked to.
Carefully remove the 2 rubber bleed nipple covers/caliper - you will
need these later.
Spend about an hour each side degreasing and cleaning - The cleaner the
caliper the better the finish. I used a standard degreaser with OO wire
wool to smooth out where the original lacquer had cracked/flaked and
then finish off with clean cloth to remove any remaining residual.
Mask up everything including the bleed nipples, rotors, hubs, wires,
suspension - everything you can get to and do not want painted. Remember
you are only paint the caliper.
As a primer I used Halfords RED High temp Paint - as this is Matt finish
it acts a great primer and goes on very nicely.
Then - and this is the best bit, a couple of coats of SMOOTH Red
Hammerite - Yes, the colour match is great and provides the same high
gloss finish the originals. Again this goes on very nicely.
Apply the high temp "Porsche" decals - available from ebay
They cost £10 and you get 6 (to allow for mistakes) - they are also a
great copy of the original screen printed ones.
Finish off with a few coats (5 in my case) of clear coat lacquer (again
from Halfords).
Carefully remove the masking tape - making sure you do not damage any
of the wiring.
Remove any over spray with wire wool provided it on unpainted surfaces.
If the worst comes to the worst it can be over-painted with Matt black
Hammerite.
Replace the nipple covers and wheel. Lower the car and check the wheel
nuts are done up tight
Then stand back and admire.
Whilst waiting for bits to dry, etc, I also took the opportunity to clean
the wheels and give them the full Zmyol treatment.
Total cost about £35 (about $60) excluding labour.
I should have some pictures available in the next couple of days when the
weather improves if anyone is interested and want to know what they look
like.
If you do not want to use RED, I am sure this method will work just as well
with Black, as both the Hammerite and High Temp Paint is available in
black.
I doubt that the finish will last as long as the original paint finish,
however I drove the car yesterday without anything falling off!! Also it
the sort of job that can be repeated every brake pad change if necessary to
keep them looking in top order.
Finally I found out why my nearside tyre sometimes rubbed on the outer edge
of the tyre - a small part of the inner wing was sticking out and just
needed to be eased back into position. I can't believe I did not see it
earlier.

Sincerely

jeff
 
I've been looking at re painting the calipers on my C4 (not sure red or black yet tho')

One thing is the Porsche script on all 4 of the calipers isn't a sticker but part of the actual metal, raised.

Do the decals mentioned cover these or would it be a case of careful painting with white paint?

Thanks

Rob
 
Rob,

I'm glad you asked that question 'cos it's been bothering me too. It's only the early cars which had the raised lettering on the calipers - the later ones had the decals. I'm interested if someone can answer it, otherwise you're going to need a VERY steady hand!!

Regards

Dave
 
Glad I'm not the only one Dave.

Spoke to a bodyshop friend yesterday and he suggested rubbing the script down so it is completely flat, spray with white, heat res. paint and then paint the rest of the caliper in whatever colour.

When completely dry and hardened, carefully rub the script down with fine wet/dry paper to uncover the white script. Then finish off with clear laquer.

Sure beats having to try and colour in after the fact!

If I ever get round to it I'll let you know how I get on.

Rob
 
Had a further investigation today and realised that an actual colour change is going to be seriously difficult - my calipers are black and I want to change to red. Instead I took John H's advice and went for the easy option: I simply cleaned the caliper (with wire wool) and then re-laquered it with engine lacquer. It looks a 100% better than it did (in fact it looks 'as new') and was relatively straightforward.
 

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