Topic: Automotive brake caliper painting kits

[jsaab2748]

Anyone had experience with these, car or bike, and what were the results? I'm unsure of the paint's resistance to brake fluid during the bleed process too, but it seems like an economical way to restore the outside of a caliper if it's any good.
TIA..jim

[BobbyR]

You can polish them up pretty good so you may not need to paint. I polished mine and am happy with it.

[kettlesd]

I stripped and polished mine as well and i love the look. A lot easier to do than i first believed it would be too.

[stevej]

I tried paintig my chipped calliper with black paint the result was awful ! No matter how hard I tried just couldnt get the brush marks out .So I tried sandblasting and Powder coating,obviously you need to be meticulously clean but I  had little to lose.Using a block of wood I bolted the calliper halves together {after removing them from bike and hoses)Blasted then washed in vaporouse spirit then powder coated they looked great for a year or so,they have recently started peeling a bit but still look better than before.

[BobbyR]

Polish them and they never peel.

[jsaab2748]

You can polish them up pretty good so you may not need to paint. I polished mine and am happy with it.

I thought about that too, only reason I didn't go that route is because I'm doing a stock resto. It is cool when done right tho...

Using a block of wood I bolted the calliper halves together {after removing them from bike and hoses.

I'd have never thought to hold the thing like that. A very good idea, whether painting or polishing...

[Geeto67]

I have never personally used that special caliper paint  but a couple of my friends have. It is a self leveling paint so the brush marks shouldn't be a problem, but you need to pay attention to the temp at which you apply it (the warmer the better since that makes the paint flow easier). One of my friends did it on his subaru and it came out good, the other on a vw and he really spent some time on it and it came out great.

Personally, I would polish the calipers because I like the look but if I wanted red calipers for a cafe racer project I might be inclined to use those paints.

[DrMark]

I like the idea of polishing a set....please post a picture and rough procedure of what you did. Thanks, DrMark

[ProTeal55]

Dupli-color low gloss engine enamel w/ceramic.

Had great luck with the stuff - goes on thick - coats nice - and is as hard as nails..
Both my calipers - wheels - and about 90% of my CB750 were sprayed with this stuff..

Also available in medium and high gloss, as well as different colors...

[kettlesd]

I like the idea of polishing a set....please post a picture and rough procedure of what you did. Thanks, DrMark

I'll post a pic as soon as i get out to the garage with my cam.

Basically I used a chemical paint stripper fromt eh harware store to remove the lion's share of the stock paint. A brass wire wheel on my bench grinder actually did 95% of the work or polishing in about 3 minutes!!!!! After the wheel I hand sanded some of the casting marks off the caliper with progressively finer grits. (30 minutes work)

Looked so good at this point I almost stopped there!

Finally i used a felt wheel on my bench grinder again with a smear of Mother's Aluminum Polish. Holy Crow looks good!

I use a dab of Mothers on a clean cloth once in awhile to prevent tarnishing.