Painting Calipers, gone bad...

[fbird]

So i cleaned my calipers of everything is fine, then i began put coat of white, 4 layers total (once every 15 minutes), then i applied the clear coat same amount of times, looked great, then i remove the newspaper, and find a couple of spots unwhite do to the newspaper covering them, so i decide to reapply more coats of white paint, after a while i come out to apply another coat, and then i find to see the paint on the calipers had cracked like when a white wall is punched and the result is what was happeing on my calipers(it as if there was an earthquake on my calipers) and thats where it all went wrong, then i tried to cover them up and had more and more layers of paing, i ended up with about 10 coats of paint on each caliper, end result they look pretty good from far away but up cloes
here are the pics before i decided to fill in the spots:






i'll post the ends result tomorrow when i take the pics of the disaster

[SuprSpdDB7]

note... go buy some masking tape!! alot!! and go tape happy!!!
tape EVERYTHING off that doesn't get painted... and then just put the newspaper on the ground and maybe around the innerds of the axle....

[FireFighter]

ahh painted pads! woot woot. :D

[fbird]

Here are the finished products you can't really tell that the paint on the caliper has cracks in it, it looks ok from far away but in general im very upset after spending all the time i did to have such a crappy result





[ August 17, 2003: Message edited by: fbird ]</p>

[TheFireChicken]

i put a guide to painting brake calipers up on the SLP board, but its down right now, or else I'd link ya.


First off, I think you put the coats on wayyy to close to each other. You should allow at least 45 minutes between coats if you live in a hot dry climate (arizona, west texas, oklahoma, etc). If you live in a hot humid climate, like Houston, Louisiana, florida, california, or any state in the south on the gulf of mexico, you need to wait between an hour and an hour and a half between coats. In the north part, where its a bit cooler, you may need to wait about the same.

What you have to understand is that the paint, in the can, is actually held in paint solvent. This keeps it a liquid. When you spray the paint on a surface, the solvent has to evaporate. This evaporation is what we commonly call "drying". When the solvent has evaporated, the paint is dry. Now, if you spray a new, wet coat on top of a partially dry coat, the solvent from the new coat will begin to soak into the lower coat, which makes it longer to dry. As you repeatedly do this, you trap solvent under the layers of paint. As it dries, it jacks up the paint, and can cause sagging, cracking, and folding in the paint. The same rule applies for clear coat.


Also, you look like you got some paint overspray on your rotors too. You really shouldnt spray your calipers while they are attached to the rotors like that.

Here are the materials you need:

3 Cans of engine enamel spray paint, in the color of your choice.

2 Cans of clear engine enamel spray paint.

1 Roll of 2 inch masking tape.

1 large plastic dropcloth, cut in half.

1 can of aerosol non-petroleum distillate cleaner.

1 wire coat hanger.

Normal mechanic tools (sockets, ratchet,wrenches, etc) to take apart a brake caliper assembly.

Here is what you should have done.

1. Jack up car, and either put on jackstands, or blocks, or something otherwise safe. Make sure to chock the wheels your not painting.

2. Remove the wheels.

3. Remove the bolts that hold the caliper to the caliper bracket. Remove the caliper from the rotor, and use the coat hanger to hang it from a spring coil on the strut. This may take a bit of work, but if you loop the hanger through one of the bolt holes on the caliper, you should have few problems. Make sure there is no tension on the brake line. Pulling on the brake line can damage it, and cause brake failure later.

4. Now, pull the brake pads out of the caliper and bracket. Put them aside. You will also see two bolts on the back of bracket, which hold it to the rest of the hub assembly. Remove these bolts, and put the bracket aside. If you wish to paint the cast portion of the rotor, remove it now.

5. If you chose to leave the rotor in place, you must cover it, along with the rest of the hub and suspension with half of th drop coth. This will require you to pull off and re-fix the coat hanger which is holding the caliper off the ground. Make sure all of the hub assembly is covered, or else overspray will get on them. You will also need to take the rest of the dropcloth, and put it over the fender and paint that lies around the edge of the wheel well. This will prevent overspray from getting on your car's body paint.

6. Now, take the cleaner, and carefully wipe off the brake caliper to remove all the brake dust, grime, and other road crap. If you dont, the grime can prevent the paint from adhereing to the caliper. After this, you will also need to tape off certain critical areas. These include:
The bolt holes
The pistons that press the pads against the rotor.
The rubber connections to brake line and bleeder caps.

You will also want to avoid directly spraying the rubber parts, as the solvent from the spraypaint can damage them.

7. Now you are ready to paint. Put 2-3 coats of color, letting at least an hour go between coats. If in doubt whether a coat is dry, try touching it, and see if the paint either comes off in your hands, or if your fingerprints can dent the paint. When you are satisfied that one coat is dry, then do the next.

8. If you are planning to put on caliper decals, do it now, after your last color coat is well dried.

9. After your decals are on, go for the clear. 3-4 coats should work ok.

10. while your paint and clear coats are drying, you can paint your rotors and brackets if you like. Your brackets need to have paper stuffed in the bolt holes to keep paint from clogging them, and your rotors need their shiny surfaces taped off. This way, you dont have any paint where the pads contact the rotors. If you wish to paint the backside of your pads, you can also do it during this time as well.

11. Once all your painting is done, you put the caliper assembly back together, and your done.

[tommycat]

Can you use a low temp spray paint as long as you cover it with a high temp clear coat? Or does it have to be the engine enamel type paint?

[John D.]

You don't need high temp paint. I used regular spray paint and it stayed in perfect condition for 3 yrs.