[DIY] Brake caliper facelift
Disclaimer: The following are provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself, nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!
To set the scene, from the day i purchased my car, the brake calipers have looked old, faded and the clear coat had mostly peeled. They have been in need of a freshen up for a while. This weekend past I decided to knuckle down and do something about it.
Apologies for the quality of the photos also, the combination of being taken on my phone and hosted on imageshack leaves a little to be desired.
The canvas:
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1913/image121.jpg http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/7683/image120.jpg
Now i would have preferred to remove the calipers from my car, but without the use of a breaker bar, the calipers were going nowhere:eek: and boy did i try!
With that, i realised i had no choice but to spray them on the car (sure as hell didn't want to, but figured if i was, i might as well be as thorough as possible).
Materials needed to get the job done:
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/3407/image118n.jpg
Also to do it right, i went to a signwriter (with correct dimensions needed), got them to make adhesive stencils of the Brembo logos:
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/8108/image108.jpg
Now, first things first, full car condom:p:
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/9638/image125d.jpg http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1044/image123.jpg
After the car was fully protected, i began with the paint stripper. I had to repeat the process of paint stripping (as stated on the tin) approximately 4 times per caliper to remove all paint.
I used a scraper to get the bulk of the paint, but a heavy stainless steel scourer to do the rest due to the curves and recesses in the caliper.
Naked Brembo's:
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1618/image126.jpg
After paint stripping, i then thoroughly brushed prepsol/wax & grease remover over the entire caliper.
Once clean, i began the fiddly job of masking up all the areas i didn't want painted (take your time with this part guys, the neater the job, the neater the final product and the less you have to clean).
Masked caliper:
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/4761/image128q.jpg
Please note that i used VHT Brake Caliper paint for the job and had enquired about a primer, i was informed that VHT doesn't make primer for that range and with the correct amount of coats, it wouldn't be neccessary.
So with that in mind, away i went, evenly coating the calipers in the red.
Stage one Red:
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1589/image129p.jpg
After the final coat of red and without the use of an oven, i let the calipers dry for numerous hours (with the help of going to watch the drifts at Willowbank;)).
When the paint was able to be "handled", not just touch dry, i then applied the stencils i had the signwriter do for me.
Making sure i was able to position the logo correctly, i measured and marked evenly around the logo (before sticking them on the calipers), cut along the marked lines and then used that to centralise the logo on the calipers.
After sticking the logo's on, i simply got a full sheet of newspaper, cut a letterbox hole in the middle and taped that around the decal as shown below.
Brembo logo ready for paint:
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/2359/image132b.jpg
Using the white paint, i then coated numerous coats till i couldn't distinguish a colour difference between the white of the stencil and the white of the previously red area.
I let this dry overnight then began delicately removing the stencil with a hobby scalpel.
I then removed all masking, paper and plastic to reveal the almost finished caliper (Almost due to running out of time to clear coat, which i intend on doing within 2 weeks)
Results so far:
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/4058/image169.jpg
Im pleased with the results so far:), cheap but effective freshen up that has been long overdue.
Couple of before and afters:
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/7683/image120.jpg http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/4435/image171h.jpg
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/5...dafter3.th.jpg
