thanks - yes I drained as much of the fluid as possible first and then plugged all holes with the wingnuts. Just use a pair of pliers to twist them on really tight and they form a great seal. It is extra important to do this because when baking, the pressure will increase inside the caliper increasing the chance of a leak if the seal is not good.

thanks - I chose VHT because of the reviews I read and because I have a good amount of experience with spraying and I simply didn't feel comfortable that I could achieve the same finish level with a brush on paint (not with my skill level at least :)). I did however note that G2 gets a lot of really good reviews for the level of protection and durability, but when I looked at some of the close up DIY pics it confirmed that brushing is tough to get a finish that will stand up to very close inspection.
As a comparison, I have mint condition factory OEM Red calipers on my 2014 Panamera GTS and I can say that it would take extremely closeup and extended inspection/comparison to come to a conclusion that my 997 calipers are not OEM painted, and I think that probably even in this case, very few people would come to that conclusion.(the only real clue is the decals being above the surface)

Just trying to provide some perspective, and also note this comes from a self confessed detailing fanatic :D

Thanks all.
I did caution in my initial post that I don't advise taking this on unless you are prepared to do it right. It's not easy and takes a lot of time (particularly the prep part which is 90% of the effort). It was also easier for me as I could still drive my 997 during the project because I only removed the base calipers and rotors when I had everything ready to swap out.

For those of us that like to DIY certain things because of the challenge, experience and satisfaction, this can be a very rewarding project. :thumbup:

I meant how did you block the hoses on the car after you took the calipers off?

ah sorry I misunderstood your question :)
to plug the brake hoses I cut the tips off of a latex glove and wrapped them tightly over the hose end using rubber bands.

Thanks! Your brakes look amazing. I'm not sure I can replicate those results so my calipers will go to Wheel Dynamics.

The spray grip made a huge difference in control
I got a set of rear calipers that needed some tlc
Appears the vht color is a little brighter than oem

Thanks JKW. Let us know when you have some pics. What color are you planning?

Dan, are you comparing the new paint with some that has been on for a few years? If I compare the freshly painted ones on my 911 with the 2014 OEM's on my Panamera GTS they look like an extremely close match.

Out of interest, did you also bake the paint? Not that I think it has a direct impact on color, but rather on the gloss & texture which can have an impact on the perceived color.

I didn't bake it
The front calipers are pretty old, which could account for the color difference

If you can prep your calipers that is key to getting a smooth clean first layer down, the rest is pretty much connecting the dots....


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...534da26086.jpg

I know cooking these things in your own oven is probably not the best idea in the world. A toaster over or spare oven would probably work but toaster ovens are small.

What would be wrong with creating a box out of aluminum foil with metal framing. Picture a photo box but made out of metal and then putting that in the oven?

See pg. 1 of the thread
$60 countertop oven = easy solution. No need to make your kitchen smell like a paint shop :)

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...b9874bd271.jpg

Good call. We replaced our toaster oven several years ago and I moved the old one out to the garage for just this reason. When I sandblast and paint metal parts, I use the toaster oven to both dry and pre-warm the metal parts and also to bake the finish. I have found that the parts that I do this process on wind up with not only a very uniform finish (paint adheres and flows better when sprayed onto a warm--not hot--metal surface), but an exceptionally durable finish as well.

When I built my shop, I briefly considered installing an old oven for this reason. It would be great to be able to bake larger parts, like wheels. It would have been a reason for me to get into powdercoating. But, I realized that an oven would take up too much space and I'd use it only a few times a year, so I discarded that idea. The toaster oven allows me to bake 75% of the parts I refinish anyway.

I think they will probably end up yellow.

Nicely done :)

thanks CB :)

Following the basics of this post, I chose to strip my calipers with paint stripper, wire wheel with a dremel tool, light sanding, and then cleanup with acetone as my prep. After VHT paint, I baked @ 300 deg F, for 1 hr.
After baked and cool, I applied high heat vinyl stickers and clear coat just over the sticker face area.

Here are the results of the procedure I used and yes, its all in the prep work. I went from thrashed black calipers to this. Three more to go... ; )