troppo

I am having calipers done for my DE car, which is a better option?

LVDell

Check in with Tim over on the 996 forum (gota911). He has some GREAT pics and write-up for painting the calipers.

AudiOn19s

Good question. I thought about painting the calipers on my street / DE car but was afraid I'd cook the paint at DE's despite it's heat rating. Never thought about asking over here though.

The factory clear on my calipers was fine until I started to use the car for DE's, it quickly got hazy and started to peel. I just associated that to problems from heat.

mj951

I painted and rebuilt mine with some nice results.
Also had a write up, search 'caliper rebuild complete w/pics' under my user name, mj951.
Good luck.

TheOtherEric

You can't powder coat calipers on a car that will see track time. The coating softens when hot, and all kinds of brake dust and junk get permanently embedded. I saw this myself when a friend tried it.

DanR

I painted mine, very easy to do but the heat from the track and also extra dust from race pads sticks to the paint and is hard to get off. They still look OK but only for a track car. (not for a street car)

mj951

A clear top coat will help prevent this.

Gary R.

There are specialty kits just for caliper coatings but I have no idea how well they work.

Here are some - http://eastwood.resultspage.com/sear...&submit=Search

Jarez Mifkin

I haven't used this, but pelican has some stuff as well...

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/...pg4.htm#item19

DAVISRILEY

Stupid question of the day, are the calipers painted, or powdercoated from the factory?

mj951

Anodized.

Vlocity

The calipers are painted with urethane from the factory. The other problem with powder coating besides it not holding up is the baking process. I wouldn't want to oven bake the calipers without pulling the seals etc., and then you are just asking for trouble. The rebuild kits are pretty expensive when you look up the rebuild kits the cost is per piston so you would need 8 total.

This is what I use and then just repaint every couple of years when the paint starts to look shabby. I make sure that I sand down the prior paint so that there is a minimal buildup.

http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/g2/caliper_paint.jsp

This is rated at 950 degrees, most of the spray can kits at Autozone are only rated to 500 degrees.

I am doing a brake upgrade right now and will be painting everything. A couple of things that I have planned include the titanium shims between the pad and the caliper pistons (this may reduce some heat transfer to the caliper) as well as a set of designated 330 cfm fans routed to the rear of the rotor at the spindle. If this helps keep the paint looking fresh it will just be a bonus.

Titanium Shims here. http://www.paragon-products.com/product_p/mc-6220.htm

Fans here... although this is a 3 inch and I have a set of 4 inch.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Atwoo...mZ390021703951

Regards,

Ken

Chaos

Paint,cheap,easy can redo yearly

turbobrat930

I dont agree with the above statement..... I powdercoated my big reds.... and after several years of track time and daily driving...they still look perfect...

Now, if you dont apply the powder right, too thin, or dont have the caliper clean enough... then yes, you might be asking for trouble... But powder coating does work... even on a track car...

Here are a few pics of the calipers that I did for my brother a few months ago. I took them completely apart and rebuilt them as well. Small insurance ( and price to pay) when you are asking these to stop you and your car from 140 or so!!! Why would you skimp on such an important part? The price of the parts to rebuild these factory 930 calipers was more than it was to rebuild my big reds... but still well under $500.00 for all four. In one of the pictures, you can see my calipers on my car in the background..and that is after 9 years after they had been powdercoated...

Vlocity

Very nice job....they look fantastic.

For most people not willing to "do it right" and rebuild the calipers, doing it with a good catalyzed urethane paint still is the best option.

Ken