Painting Calipers
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From: Las Vegas, NV
Painting Calipers
OK.
Chronic DIY’r here. I’m gonna paint the calipers on my 992. I have painted calipers on at least 5 of my cars in the past, but I have never used decals/stickers, nor 2 stage paint. I am going for an OEM appearance and quality of finish. Got base coat. Got clear coat. Got temperature safe stickers/decals specifically made for calipers. Car will be used on track (5 times a year for PCA DE days), so brakes will get a workout.
Question to anyone who has done this before -
After the base coat, should I shoot the clear then stickers on top, or shoot the clear on top of the stickers/decals?
I’ll post the whole project with pix later. Might be a month or two…
cheers,
L76
Chronic DIY’r here. I’m gonna paint the calipers on my 992. I have painted calipers on at least 5 of my cars in the past, but I have never used decals/stickers, nor 2 stage paint. I am going for an OEM appearance and quality of finish. Got base coat. Got clear coat. Got temperature safe stickers/decals specifically made for calipers. Car will be used on track (5 times a year for PCA DE days), so brakes will get a workout.
Question to anyone who has done this before -
After the base coat, should I shoot the clear then stickers on top, or shoot the clear on top of the stickers/decals?
I’ll post the whole project with pix later. Might be a month or two…
cheers,
L76
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done many. You should paint the logo, not use stickers. Say for example you want white lettering on black calipers - spray white basecoat, apply decals, spray black basecoat, and then remove stickers. The clear the hole assy, wet sand, and spray another coat of clear. Bingo.
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done many. You should paint the logo, not use stickers. Say for example you want white lettering on black calipers - spray white basecoat, apply decals, spray black basecoat, and then remove stickers. The clear the hole assy, wet sand, and spray another coat of clear. Bingo.
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Stickers under clear work fine, but it's just a little more work to paint markings on, and then you have a perfect, beautiful job and don't have to worry about stickers shrinking under heat, etc. With painted markings, you can also do lettering in pretty much any color you choose - pearls, etc.
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Stickers under clear work fine, but it's just a little more work to paint markings on, and then you have a perfect, beautiful job and don't have to worry about stickers shrinking under heat, etc. With painted markings, you can also do lettering in pretty much any color you choose - pearls, etc.
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Here's what I bought for decals (https://snapdecal.com/products/12-po...caliper-decals). They're die cut, heat resistant vinyl. I was thinking these should be applied on top of my second coat of clear (and maybe shoot a 3rd coat of clear on top of the stickers?)?
If so, I would just paint the calipers and apply the decals. I could perhaps avoid the 3 stage approach you're advocating (am I getting this right below? sorry to be pedantic)?
Stage 1. Base color (of PORSCHE logo) on whole caliper
-Apply decals/stencils of PORSCHE logo
Stage 2. Apply Masking/decals for PORSCHE logo and shoot Base color of whole caliper
-Remove decal/stencil (hopefully PORSCHE looks clean/crisp)
Stage 3. Clear coat
-Wet Sand
-Apply 2nd Clear Coat
I will post whichever approach I take and update results after use / track season this year.
Cheers,
L76
If so, I would just paint the calipers and apply the decals. I could perhaps avoid the 3 stage approach you're advocating (am I getting this right below? sorry to be pedantic)?
Stage 1. Base color (of PORSCHE logo) on whole caliper
-Apply decals/stencils of PORSCHE logo
Stage 2. Apply Masking/decals for PORSCHE logo and shoot Base color of whole caliper
-Remove decal/stencil (hopefully PORSCHE looks clean/crisp)
Stage 3. Clear coat
-Wet Sand
-Apply 2nd Clear Coat
I will post whichever approach I take and update results after use / track season this year.
Cheers,
L76
Last edited by L76; Mar 6, 2024 at 07:45 PM.
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Correct - If you decide to go with the sticker, I would definitely put a coat of clear over them - you can then wet sand to flatten them out and apply a second coat of clear. For stickers, apply on top of base coat, and then put on two coats of clear. Some prefer to put a thin coat of clear on to lock in the basecoat, and then apply stickers followed by a second clear a well, but for me, painted lettering is the ticket.
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Here's what I bought for decals (https://snapdecal.com/products/12-po...caliper-decals). They're die cut, heat resistant vinyl. I was thinking these should be applied on top of my second coat of clear (and maybe shoot a 3rd coat of clear on top of the stickers?)?
If so, I would just paint the calipers and apply the decals. I could perhaps avoid the 3 stage approach you're advocating (am I getting this right below? sorry to be pedantic)?
Stage 1. Base color (of PORSCHE logo) on whole caliper
-Apply decals/stencils of PORSCHE logo
Stage 2. Apply Masking/decals for PORSCHE logo and shoot Base color of whole caliper
-Remove decal/stencil (hopefully PORSCHE looks clean/crisp)
Stage 3. Clear coat
-Wet Sand
-Apply 2nd Clear Coat
I will post whichever approach I take and update results after use / track season this year.
Cheers,
L76
If so, I would just paint the calipers and apply the decals. I could perhaps avoid the 3 stage approach you're advocating (am I getting this right below? sorry to be pedantic)?
Stage 1. Base color (of PORSCHE logo) on whole caliper
-Apply decals/stencils of PORSCHE logo
Stage 2. Apply Masking/decals for PORSCHE logo and shoot Base color of whole caliper
-Remove decal/stencil (hopefully PORSCHE looks clean/crisp)
Stage 3. Clear coat
-Wet Sand
-Apply 2nd Clear Coat
I will post whichever approach I take and update results after use / track season this year.
Cheers,
L76
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From: Las Vegas
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Thanks. I have to ask my painter but its a Porsche OEM color from back in the day. I picked it out from the Porsche color catalogue the shop had. I did it because a) fits my scheme, and b) does not pretent to be CCB yellow.
Thread Starter
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Joined: May 2018
Posts: 716
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From: Las Vegas, NV
I haven't painted mine yet... hoping to get to it this weekend. QUESTION - did you guys remove your calipers to paint them, or just mask everything really well?
Cheers,
L76
Cheers,
L76