jasper

The clear coat is peeling off of my calipers so I'm going to paint them while I have the car off the road for a few months.

I figure I can get the results I need using spray paint - so long as my prep is good.

Here's my questions:

1) Should I use aircraft stripper to remove the old clear coat and paint or should I just sand them down? Or both?

2) What's the story clear coat ? Can I get a high temperature formulation?

3) Decals - has anyone got a source or do I head ebay?

Thanks - if there's a good tech write up anywhere I'd like to see it. It's hard to search for.

LostSouth

I cleaned really good with brake cleaner first, then sanded, then cleaned again with mineral spirits before painting. I used the high temp spray paint. Got the decals from Suncoast. I've not put a lot of miles on since, but everything has been track miles and it has held up well. I just used the regular clear coat.

palestar

I'd like t do this as well, my fronts are starting to peel and would rather go with a red color

D6lc

I tried painting mine this winter and was really disapointed by the result, in the end I sent them off to be stripped and powder coated, best $200 I spent.
Here is the post I wrote up:
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...nd-refurb.html

frisbee91

I had success with the brush-on caliper painting kit from Duplicolor. Did mine in red. I sanded the calipers smooth, but did not remove all the old paint, and then used the cleaner included with the kit. I did not use the crappy brush included with the kit. I bought a better small brush, which helped significantly in getting a smooth application. I applied many coats in succession, as recommended in the kit instructions

I got the high-temp decals from ebay. They seem to work fine. (vendor was "euromotorspeed")

However, I used a duplicolor high-temp engine enamel clearcoat, but it has yellowed slightly on the front calipers after a Drivers Education day, presumably from the heat. You can only see the yellow as a result of the decals being white. (actually, perhaps the decals have yellowed? It was probably the clearcoat.)

The rear decals still look great.

My recommendation: If you are planning on using a clearcoat, put the decals on AFTER applying the clear. That way, they would be easy to replace. Or, skip the clearcoat altogether.

FYI, I followed the advice in this thread.

morganabowen

When I did mine a couple of years ago, I got the decals from Wheel Dynamics They weren't very expensive

Down South

I did mine about 3 years ago using high temp caliper spray paint. Sanded the clearcoat where it was peeling off and sanded off the decals. Cleaned, masked them off and painted with three or four coats. Installed the decals and then sprayed two to three coats of high temp clearcoat. Turned out great and has held up really well. I usually touch up a few spots when the wheels are off.

Note: Don't forget to sand and paint the rotor hats as well!

Here is a pic of the right front caliper and the products I used.

jasper

Thanks for the tips gents. Some questions:

1) What are the 3 products you used Down South. I see the red caliper paint of course - and I assume one of the other two is the clear coat. What's the third can?

2) Is that a recent picture ie 3 years later? My only real concern is that the clear coat will yellow up. Have you seen any hint of that happening?

The trick for me will be to find these products up in Canada. There's no guarantee that Dupli-Color imports them up here.

frisbee91

Just to clairfy my post above. The yellowing I experienced was definitely from the high temperatures the front brake calipers saw during the DE track day, not from age. The rear calipers did not yellow, and they are the same age. I used the same duplicolor high temp engine enamel clearcoat that DownSouth used.

jasper

Yes - I saw that you cooked them yellow at the track. I may hit the track once or twice over the next few years as well so that has me concerned a bit.

I was wondering if regular street use caused the same effect over time.

I guess I could be concerned about flaking too. It happened to the stock finish after all.

There's lots of advice on the net that says not to clear coat a tall, but then I would expect the decals to start peeling off.

I'm off to Canadian Tire to see what they have for caliper paint and clear coat.

Down South

Sorry, should have clarified. The pic was taken this afternoon, so that's after three years' use. The third can is what I used to paint the rotor hats, high temp gray/silver.

Good luck!

ccaarmerciill

We just sanded ours down (had chipping clear coat too) and cleaned them up before applying the brush on paint kit (local auto parts store). We skipped clear coat due to worry about yellowing. Applied decals the next day, and its held up great so far! Still nice and glossy. If it starts to fade, or look crappy, we still have 1/2 the can left to add a fresh coat.

Cuda911

I saw these caliper covers on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/310697606910...84.m1423.l2649

$179 for a set of four, and they will engrave a Porsche logo (or whatever else you want) on them. Seems like a good deal and way easier than painting the calipers, and way cheaper than buying painted/powder-coated ones.

Does anyone know if these are a good product? They also claim that it will reduce the brake dust mess.

alpine003

Getting caliper covers to cover up factory brembos should be considered a sin IMHO.

Do it the right way and skip the covers. You wouldn't want people saying you have a nice car until the see your covers and the secretly thinking you're mentally unstable to themselves.

Cuda911

OK, consider the covers skipped. Appreciate the feedback.