[DIY] Brake caliper facelift

[TYP32]

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:


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 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:


Also to do it right, i went to a signwriter (with correct dimensions needed), got them to make adhesive stencils of the Brembo logos:


Now, first things first, full car condom:


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:


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:


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:


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:


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:


Im pleased with the results so far, cheap but effective freshen up that has been long overdue.

Couple of before and afters:

[Ashwee]

Great DIY, results look perfect! +1 rep!

[02gzm]

When the paint was able to be "handled", not just touch dry, i then applied the stencils i had the signwriter do for me.

Lol this is very important as you may start to pull the red paint up if it's not completely dry hey paul (being extremely hungover didn't help at all)

[TYP32]

^ LOL so true Will, altho, hungover was only half of what we were that mornin Tryin to keep focus with a scalpel under those circumstances makes me crack up just thinkin bout it.

[Benson]

why not take the brembo's calipers off the rotors?

Good DIY anyways!

[90LAN]

good work mate
mine were like yours
the buyer fixed them up but

[02gzm]

why not take the brembo's calipers off the rotors?

Good DIY anyways!

Limited tools and they didn't wanna loosen

[Tegzieboi_BAR]

Wow... great job... id never have the patience to do that myself!

[TYP32]

Cheers for the positive feedback guys

why not take the brembo's calipers off the rotors?

Good DIY anyways!

Yeah i wanted to mate, but as stated near the top of the DIY, i didnt have a breaker bar... tried like all hell to loosen the bolts with a spanner then a wrench, but even puttin all my body weight and almost punchin out a bum nugget, they weren't budging

[Emre_2144]

sorry to revive an old thread but where can i get one of those giant condoms?

[OzSir2]

^^^Have you asked at the chemist? Surely Supercheap has something like it. BTW nice write up. I've heard not to put the clear coat on because it goes yellow.

[02gzm]

sorry to revive an old thread but where can i get one of those giant condoms?

Bunnings. It's just a cheap plastic drop sheet for painting.