Brake Caliper Paint

[ox518]

Hi all, I just got my golf mk6 118TSI with sports package. I really do like the red brake caliper on white golf GTI (mine is white as well). I was thinking to purchase a Brembo brake caliper but it is bloody expensive. Now I am thinking to paint them just like the caliper on GTI.

Anyone has done this before? And any factory can be suggested in NSW/ACT??

Thank you very much.

[Mrk_Mickey]

I painted mine red If you want someone else to do it, all you need to do is give it to any body/repair shop. It's a fairly easy task for anyone, so if you've got some time and patience I reckon it's better to just do it yourself.

Here's what needs to be done:

1. Jack the car up and take either the two front or two rear wheels off (I did mine two at a time because I didn't use a hoist)
2. Take the wheel off and undo the two(?) brake caliper bolts on the brakes. They are situated behind the caliper, and they bolt onto the ''caliper carrier'', which is the metal bar that bolts the calipers to the hub.
3. Once the bolts are undone, take them right out and leave them aside (I suggest at this point that you make sure your handbrake is off if you're doing the rear brakes). Pry the caliper off of the brake pads and disconnect/take off the brake pads and leave them aside.
At this point, I left the brake caliper on the brake hose and just held it up balanced on two blocks of wood so I could mask it up and paint it without taking the brake lines off. If you want to take the brake lines off you'll need to stop the fluid coming out with a stopper or something similar.
4. Undo the two(?) caliper carrier bolts. These are bolted onto the back of the hub. They're also usually quite tight!
5. Take the carriers off the hub and put them somewhere where you can do some spraying.
6. Use brake cleaner and a wire brush to agitate/clean the brake calipers and carriers. Spray it on, leave for ~10 seconds then scrub until clean (it's not detrimental to worry about 100% cleanliness, just so long as most of the build up is scrubbed off that should be fine).
7. You need to mask up the car if you're going to leave the brake calipers on while painting. First of all, grab lots of newspaper and masking tape. Mask off the hub and stick newspaper from the hub to the edge of the wheel arch, leaving the caliper exposed out of the wheel arch. Tape up the bits of the caliper that aren't to be painted (ie, the pots and the hose etc - basically whatever you don't see when the wheel is on). Then just tape up around the car (I'd say a 1-1.5metre radius) for overspray.
8. Get your paint out, and spray evenly over the brake calipers (and the carriers, wherever you've put them!). It doesn't matter if you don't cover everything in the first coat. Try not to spray on too heavily as you'll get runs in the paint. Remember, lighter coats are better
9. Apply coats of the paint every 10 minutes or so, trying to cover everything. Do as many coats as you want until the area you're painting is completely covered/you're happy with the paint and then leave it to dry for a few hours.
(I should note that you can spray a clear coat onto the brakes now for added protection but I didn't do it.)
10. Put everything back together carefully (so you don't scratch the paint) and let the car down. I would advise to let the brakes dry for another few hours at least, if not overnight, so that any brake dust that comes from your next drive will settle on top of COMPLETELY DRIED paint



Hope that helps mate. If you're not going to do it yourself, you might end up paying a bit in labour!

[Jarred]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3mhq_BrnU0

[ox518]

Thanks mate, you advise is really helpful. However, I don't have a garage at moment therefore I have to ask someone else to do it for me.

I painted mine red If you want someone else to do it, all you need to do is give it to any body/repair shop. It's a fairly easy task for anyone, so if you've got some time and patience I reckon it's better to just do it yourself.

Here's what needs to be done:

1. Jack the car up and take either the two front or two rear wheels off (I did mine two at a time because I didn't use a hoist)
2. Take the wheel off and undo the two(?) brake caliper bolts on the brakes. They are situated behind the caliper, and they bolt onto the ''caliper carrier'', which is the metal bar that bolts the calipers to the hub.
3. Once the bolts are undone, take them right out and leave them aside (I suggest at this point that you make sure your handbrake is off if you're doing the rear brakes). Pry the caliper off of the brake pads and disconnect/take off the brake pads and leave them aside.
At this point, I left the brake caliper on the brake hose and just held it up balanced on two blocks of wood so I could mask it up and paint it without taking the brake lines off. If you want to take the brake lines off you'll need to stop the fluid coming out with a stopper or something similar.
4. Undo the two(?) caliper carrier bolts. These are bolted onto the back of the hub. They're also usually quite tight!
5. Take the carriers off the hub and put them somewhere where you can do some spraying.
6. Use brake cleaner and a wire brush to agitate/clean the brake calipers and carriers. Spray it on, leave for ~10 seconds then scrub until clean (it's not detrimental to worry about 100% cleanliness, just so long as most of the build up is scrubbed off that should be fine).
7. You need to mask up the car if you're going to leave the brake calipers on while painting. First of all, grab lots of newspaper and masking tape. Mask off the hub and stick newspaper from the hub to the edge of the wheel arch, leaving the caliper exposed out of the wheel arch. Tape up the bits of the caliper that aren't to be painted (ie, the pots and the hose etc - basically whatever you don't see when the wheel is on). Then just tape up around the car (I'd say a 1-1.5metre radius) for overspray.
8. Get your paint out, and spray evenly over the brake calipers (and the carriers, wherever you've put them!). It doesn't matter if you don't cover everything in the first coat. Try not to spray on too heavily as you'll get runs in the paint. Remember, lighter coats are better
9. Apply coats of the paint every 10 minutes or so, trying to cover everything. Do as many coats as you want until the area you're painting is completely covered/you're happy with the paint and then leave it to dry for a few hours.
(I should note that you can spray a clear coat onto the brakes now for added protection but I didn't do it.)
10. Put everything back together carefully (so you don't scratch the paint) and let the car down. I would advise to let the brakes dry for another few hours at least, if not overnight, so that any brake dust that comes from your next drive will settle on top of COMPLETELY DRIED paint



Hope that helps mate. If you're not going to do it yourself, you might end up paying a bit in labour!

[ox518]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3mhq_BrnU0

The video is pretty cool, thanks!!

[Mrk_Mickey]

Thanks mate, you advise is really helpful. However, I don't have a garage at moment therefore I have to ask someone else to do it for me.

I don't have a garage I just have a driveway and I left it sitting overnight.

You only really need a free saturday and some tools and jackstands to do this completely. As long as you can paint everything by about 2pm (that's more than plenty of time), you can put the wheels and brakes back on by 5pm and let it sit for the night, or at least until you want to go out at 9pm.

[fuzion]

to add to this.

i would suggest use wax/grease remover as well (can buy it anywhere) and also sand your caliper down a bit too to get it a bit smoother from the 'brush'.

the best caliper paint to use on the market imo is Foliatec however you will need to source it yourself as its hard to come by.

ideally you'd want to do a clear coat over it on the end of it to seal it completely and if your lucky it may hold colour. unfortunately mine are pink but thats due to all the heat killing my paint LOL..

if you want to speed up the process, i would suggest using a heat gun as well which will make things a lot easier for you ..

Google info, Youtube Videos.. plenty of information around.

Garage isn't needed, if you wanted someone to do it professionally (panel shop say) expect to pay 300-800 in total. Not a cheap option, give it a go yourself or maybe convince another member to give you a hand!

[goodfella]

+1 for Mickey, I got him to do my calipers...and it was a top job.

I used Septone Brake caliper paint (spray cans) available from Supercheap for about $10 and a can od brake cleaner.. about 1.5 cans used all up.

[Ozram]

Did mine yesterday. Wasn't too bad to do. You really have to mask off the car as there is a lot of paint in the air. I used VHT caliper paint and clear coat. 4 or 5 coats of each and about 5 hours to do.

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/s...IMG_4602-1.jpg
http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/s...IMG_4600-1.jpg
http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/s...IMG_4601-1.jpg
http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/s...IMG_4603-1.jpg
http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/s...IMG_4604-1.jpg
http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/s...IMG_4605-1.jpg

[brad]

Here's a thread with several different ways of painting your calipers (depends on how much of a slacker you are).

I did mine in the driveway. Didn't disconnect hydraulics.
If you do a single caliper up to the point where the paint is on, then do the next then by the time you have finished the 4th caliper, #1 is touch dry. You can then refit the caliper & maybe give it a light touchup for any smudge marks. Paint work on brake calipers doesn't have to be brilliant as most people are a few metres away when they are looking.