Chuck Schreiber

Bert,

I just sent a long message about this and then deleted it. Doohh!!!
I'm doing this right now as well. Roger Tyson turned me on to Rustoleum hammered metal paint.
You can paint it on with a brush, it's designed to go over rust (ie our Zimmerman rear rotors), it does not leas brush strokes, and it gives the hub a hammered metal appearance, really nice and clean! He used it on his GTS and a van he drives every day and it still looks new when you clean it.
I taped off my wheel studs, used a small brush kit from Home Depot and painted the hat and also the outer vent of the rotor. I used Hammered Black and it looks really good with my red calipers and my cast holed rotors.
With the small brush I was able to get very little on the rotor face. The little that is on there will be scrubbed off and make a nice fine line around the hub. Next up is the std. issue Porsche cast holed front rotors. Those battleship gray rotor hats look like shee-hot!!!! It was just too easy, no removal of the caliper took a few minutes to do each coat. Wait about an hr between coats by the way.
Get the stuff at H. Depot.

Good luck with whatever you decide!!

Good luck,

Ed Scherer

One thing that I didn't mention is that the VHT silver followed by clear on the rotor hats has held up extremely well. I just snapped a photo this morning. This is about three years since I painted them.

bfellows

Chuck S - I've decided to go down the same route. In my local DIY store i came across Hammerite High Heat paint. I can't be bothered to strip the rears and mess about with readjusting the handbrake, so this for me is a good compromise. Minimal preparation as it goes straight over light surface rust without having to rub down and prime first! Application is by brush, so nothing to mask off and touch dry in 30 mins.

Opted for matt black in the end (in part as that was the only colour they had!)

FlyingDog

Interesting spelling.

Anybody powder coat theirs?

John Krawczyk

My wife would kick my *** for doing that. I think she yelled at me for putting all my alloy bike parts in the dishwasher.

Chuck Schreiber

Bert,

That's the same paint, just a different brand. I think you're going to be pleased with the results!!!!

Again, It was just too easy! I found that by using a dabbing motion, it went on better than just straight brush strokes. Use a small brush and you can get a pretty clean line where the hat meets the rotor face. (that part you will have to use a smooth stroke) Also, paint the outer part or vent of the rotor as that starts to looks pretty bad with rust as well. I just finshished the RRear tonight and I'm ready to get her back on the road this weekend

I'll do the fronts in a few weeks when I have the time. Let me know how it turns out!

AndyK

Chuck - Did you have to sand the rotor hats before painting? My 944's hats are rusting pretty nicely--glad I paid all that money for Zimmerman rotors back in February!?

Chuck Schreiber

Andy,

I just wiped mine off w/an alcohol soaked rag. Got the loose stuff off. Then just get your small brush and stroak or dab it on. A dabbing motion seemed to work better. The hats on the Zimmerman rotors had small grooves in them and long strokes wouldn't get the paint completely in them. Apply 2nd coat about 45min-1hr later. Have fun.

AndyK

Excellent!! THIS is what I have been looking for. A paint that is meant to go over rust (and stop the spread of it)! No need to sand, and sand, and clean the rusty hats--just dab on. Great. Thanks!!

AndyK

Update- My Home Depot doesn't have this paint. I'll have to order it online.

The Rustoleum Hammered paint doesn't say "high heat". Sure it holds up, Chuck?? I only wanna do this little project once!

bfellows

AndyK,

For info, I cleaned one of my rotors completely up with wire wool and the painted finish was so, so. Gave the other side a quick once over with emery cloth and the finished result was much better! The paint i used adheres much better if the hats are not over prepped.

I had the same concerns with standard hammered paint and temperature. Standard paint is OK to 150 degrees according to the can, hence i went for the high heat version. Might be overcautious, but i've no idea how hot the discs get in use?

No need to be to neat either - the first time you brake it cleans any overpainting straight of and gives a nice crisp line!

AndyK

Thanks Bert! I assume the rotors get hot not only from use, but from sitting in the sun on a 90 degree day! And it seems that a rough surface (including rust) works better for these over-rust type paints.

So far, I can't find the high heat stuff in silver/grey?

bfellows

I've just checked the Hammerite website and they only do high heat in black. I'll post some pic's of my rotors thursday, might help the colour decision? IMO matt black looks fine (matches the brake dust guards.) The hats soon get filthy when running soft pads, so at least it doesnt show the grime.

AndyK

Pics would help Bert! Black might make the hats vanish, which wouldn't be a bad thing maybe!

Gary Knox

I've used the spray cans of "Barbeque Grille Black" on several sets of rotors. The paint is supposed to be good to 1300 degrees. I clean the rotors hats with laquer thinner when they are new to get oil etc. off, cut a hole about 1/4 inches larger than the hat in a large piece of cardboard, put it over the hat and spray about 3 coats. Works great, give flat black appearance (doesn't detract from the holed rotors or red calipers), and lasts well - unless you do a lot of track driving (which I do). The paint does eventually show signs of failing after a season of street/track driving (but then the rotors have cracks and need to be replaced anyway). As Ed used to say "YMMV"
Gary Knox