Are V6 calipers iron?

[TheV6Bird]

Are V6 front brake calipers iron?

My brother and I were just wondering this. If they were iron, and you polished them, the iron would rust, whereas aluminum calipers would not rust. Please correct me if I am wrong.

The tech section didn't list caliper material.

We are painting the front calipers on his 97 V6 Camaro, and we are using a rotary tool and grind wheels as a replacement for a hand wire brush. Now, his calipers are very shiny and have a polished look. We are still going to paint them, though.

[TealV6]

Technically they do have Iron in them. They are made of steel. Which has Iron and other metal melted in a large vat.

If you are going to polish and leave them. I would suggest a good High Temp clear coat. Not sure how high in temp you can get clear, but the calipers do get extremely hot under duty.

I know many guys use High Temp paint. I personally will be sending mine out for powder coating for it's strength characteristics.

Steve

[Dominic]

Actually the 98+ calipers (LS1 style) are aluminum... this is why people bother to polish them. They will turn black and oxidize, but they will not rust.

[Dominic]

TealV6 - you might want to try some POR15 on your calipers... it forms a hard enamel rustproof shell capable of withstanding much higher temps than regular paint and costs a lot less than powercoating [img]smile.gif[/img] Its just an idea anyways.

The problem with painting a caliper is that brake work requires brake cleaner which strips the paint clean off the caliper.

[AZ3.8Camaro]

I used engine block paint, with ceramic in it. Worked great. Still holding in strong. Lasted through one set of "Lifetime" brake pads. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[TheV6Bird]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Dominic:
The problem with painting a caliper is that brake work requires brake cleaner which strips the paint clean off the caliper.<hr></blockquote>Ouch!! We forgot all about that! We're going to have to be VERRRY careful when we change his brake pads next time.

[Dominic]

Engine enamels probably are tough enough to hold up to brake cleaner [img]smile.gif[/img]

[strobhen]

I like my polished caliper (yup, only one)

takes forever to do though