Rusty brake disc hubs....

Guest · Mar 10, 2006

Is there anyway for the hub part of the disc to be painted or treated to prevent the inevitable surface rust visible through the wheel spokes?

If so can anybody recommend a paint or treatment which I could apply without making a complete mess? (i.e. a spray-on paint as opposed to using a brush)

thanks in advance

Dave Wilkinson · Mar 10, 2006

Kristian,

It's funny you should mention this as it's an issue that's been bugging me ever since I got my car more than 2 years ago!! Last weekend I actually got around to doing something about it.

Obviously you'll have to clean up the rust that's there - I found a wire brush on the electric drill worked fine. I'd been looking for a while to decide what to treat the now clean metal with and browsing the 'net one day, I found a product from Frosts Auto Restoration which seemed promising. The product is called "Metal Ready". It's supplied in a spray bottle (although you can use a brush if you wish) and it promises to coat the metal with a heat resistant zinc coating. It seems to work best when the weather is dry and warm (they recommend over 60 deg F) and it leaves it a nice dull "zinc" grey colour. I had a spot of rain when I was doing the last hub and it's left a few rusty spots so I'll have to do it again, but the first three look good. I found it was a pretty easy job and much less messy than having to mask up the callipers and discs. If I find it needs doing again in a few months I won't feel too bad about it.

Frost's web site is at http://www.frost.co.uk - just search for "Metal Ready" - it's £9.36 + VAT for 590ml.

Hope that helps.

Regards

Dave

Guest · Mar 10, 2006

Cheers Dave - that looks perfect!

I've just ordered some - hopefully will get busy this weekend.

thanks again

Jamie Summers · Mar 10, 2006

Damn, that stuff looks great - I just shelled out for the 'brake coat' paint from Frosts, which means I will have to go for the full mask-up job when I get round to it. How did you stop the spray getting on the contact surface of the disc, or did you not worry about it ?? I'd love to know hoe this stuff lasts, but as you say, if you have to re-do it every few months it's no big deal.

Jamie

Dave Wilkinson · Mar 10, 2006

ORIGINAL: Jamie Summers
How did you stop the spray getting on the contact surface of the disc, or did you not worry about it ??

Jamie,

The short answer is - I didn't. That stuff is the consistancy of water and the spray head can be controlled so it just dribbles. There is no need to "spray" it in the sense of paint spray 'coz it just drips all over the place, You can spread it with a brush or even a rag and just leave it for a few minutes for the zinc coating to "develop".

I was reasonably careful not to get it all over the disc but the odd bit didn't matter since the first drive cleaned it all up perfectly.

I did all four discs but used less than an inch of the stuff from the bottle - so it seems very economical. Plenty left to do the job again several times over. I'm also interested to see how it weathers but I really don't mind doing it over if necessary. Anything is better than the rusty disc hats.

Regards

Dave