Powder Coating Calipers
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From: West Palm Beach, FL
Powder Coating Calipers
Ater trying two different methods of painting my calipers and being unhappy with the results both times, I think I am going to bite the bullet and get them powder coated. Has anyone done this to their calipers? What was the cost and what all did it entail? I' like to find a powder coater on the West Coast that is reasonably priced too. I have gotten one quote so far andhe wanted $90 per caliper...that seemed kinda steep. He wanted to know what kind of car it was for, I told him Porsche and I wondered if the price doubled because of that.
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From: YQU
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From: USVI
I had mine powder coated several years ago and the price was part of a larger package but I think on their own it would have been around $2-300 for 4 calipers. Finishing magazine has a job shop database that you can search the USA, Canada and a bunch of other countries for powder coating, anodizing and plating shops.
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From: West Palm Beach, FL
Thanks for the link Marc. I called and talked to the powder coater in that link. She told me $70 per caliper and they could to them without me having to rebuilt the caliper. They are located in Florida which means probably at least a week+ worth of shipping .
I am going to take my calipers to the local guy tomorrow and see if I can work him down some. But he told me I had to rebuild the calipers. I can't figure out how one can do it without a rebuild but the other said I would have to.
Anyway, does anyone know the part number for the rear caliper seals? Mine are all dried out and cracked. They aren't leaking, but I think those are merely dust covers and not an actual gasket for sealing in the brake fluid.
I am going to take my calipers to the local guy tomorrow and see if I can work him down some. But he told me I had to rebuild the calipers. I can't figure out how one can do it without a rebuild but the other said I would have to.
Anyway, does anyone know the part number for the rear caliper seals? Mine are all dried out and cracked. They aren't leaking, but I think those are merely dust covers and not an actual gasket for sealing in the brake fluid.
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From: USVI
If your powder coater can slow bake the calipers at a lower temperature you can get away with not having to rebuild but seeing as you already have 90% of the work done I would just go ahead and do the rebuild. What year and model is your 964? There are differences in the rear brakes so the part numbers will be different. The porsche rebuild kits include a new piston $$$ so you might want to buy the seals and boots individually from someone like TrueChoice or StopTech. Consider also replacing the spring plates. After a number of years brake dust and corrosion buildup behind the plates and cause them to permanetly warp, which can bring about problems with the pads binding and make replacing pads a real PITA.
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From: West Palm Beach, FL
I went to the local powder coater today in Rocklin and talked to him. What an utter *** that guy was. He basically said I was stupid if I had the guy in Florida do them without disassembling them because they bake them out at 400 degree. I really didn't feel like argung with the guy so I am pretty sure I am going to ship them down to the guy in Florida to do them. I figured I might as well rebuilt the calipers while I was at it anyway, so I stopped at Niello Porsche to get a price to rebuilt them. The rebuilt kit for the rears was $45 and the rear calipers were going to need a total of 4 rebuilt kits! I didn't even price the fronts. I am going to check Truechoice and Stoptec and see if I can just get the dust boots. Thanks for the info guys.
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The calipers during use generally do not see temps of 400 F. The seals are toasted if they do. Seals are generally rated to 360 - 400 F max but begin to harden at much lower temps, it's a time @ temp relation. 1 hour @ 300 is equivalent to a few minutes at 380 and it's cumulative, but nonlinearly
You can paint them w/ a chemical resistant epoxy. Glassurit used to have a line which was good for this but things have changed so much in the paint business that it's probably been changed to a different fomulation. Check w/ the paint suppliers for current recommendations. If you really get on them on a track you can discolor any paint, most folks won't but there are always the exceptional few.....
I don't know how old or how hard your car has been driven but my guess is that most 964 calipers are now ready for a rebuild anyway
You can paint them w/ a chemical resistant epoxy. Glassurit used to have a line which was good for this but things have changed so much in the paint business that it's probably been changed to a different fomulation. Check w/ the paint suppliers for current recommendations. If you really get on them on a track you can discolor any paint, most folks won't but there are always the exceptional few.....
I don't know how old or how hard your car has been driven but my guess is that most 964 calipers are now ready for a rebuild anyway
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From: yorba linda, ca
I have been powdercoating A LOT of brake calipers here in my garage over the last 6 months. Mostly Brembo, Porsche OE. I typically powdercoat with the calipers assembled, minus the pad striker plates, bleeders, spring clips etc. I send all of the steel bits out for yellow zinc plating.
I cure at 385-390F for ~16 minutes. Does the trick. I was concerned about seals and dust boot life so I called my rep at Brembo, NC. They state these seals are not bothered until 440F, especially for the short amount of time, like Bill mentioned.
I use epoxy based powder, which is of really high quality. Brake fluid does not affect it much, thankfully.
High temp powder is available, but sadly only in silver or black color. I'll post some pics later
I cure at 385-390F for ~16 minutes. Does the trick. I was concerned about seals and dust boot life so I called my rep at Brembo, NC. They state these seals are not bothered until 440F, especially for the short amount of time, like Bill mentioned.
I use epoxy based powder, which is of really high quality. Brake fluid does not affect it much, thankfully.
High temp powder is available, but sadly only in silver or black color. I'll post some pics later
