Painting calipers - not working for me

[Nic_A31]

I picked up some 33 calipers, cleaned them up, sanded them back to bare metal, applied a 2 coats of high temp primer (1000+ deg), sanded it with 400 in between. The primer dried overnight and it looked sweet, I put on a coat of VHT high temp, let it try over 4 hours, put on another coat and let it sit overnight, and it's still not sticking. It was drying on a milk crate, I rolled it over and even the milkcrake cracked the layer of paint where it came in contact, as does handling it (holding it's fine, but fingernails rips into the paint easy, pressing too hard leaves fingerprints in the paint) 24 hours later.

What am I doing wrong?
am I better off to hand these to a pro, or am I just using a shit can of paint?
Probably a retarded question, but figured I'd ask before I look at my other options like anodizing or sending them off to somebody else.

[kurbn]

Strip them back again
Clean them with brake cleaner
Just paint straight on the calipers with the VHT Colour and work your way up with light coats
Hang it to dry during the day when its warm on the washing line or something

Should work fine.. I am thnking the problem is a combination of using primer and coats being too thick

[Nic_A31]

I did have this problem the first time I painted them in black, but it wasnt as bad, and after I painted them, they were a bit sticky, I just left them for about a week and they're fine. I know you're meant to cure / bake the paint on - reckon maybe 24 hours isnt enough ?

I'll sand them back and try again without primer - cheers dude.

[DISTRBD]

Try it with some decent paint

[Gladio]

Yep too much paint combo's.

Dont even need heat proof primer really.

As said Rub it all back first.

What I did was just wash it down with turps, Apply 1coat of metal primer(spray can), then get a gloss finish and apply 1-2 coats.


White Knights works best imo Or Dulux spray cans.

Might fade a little after 5~ months but what do you expect with all that brake dust going over them.

I was lazy and didnt take the brakes off painted it on there, then with the hubs painted them black. Rest the paint on rotors comes off after 2min of driving anyway.

http://i42.tinypic.com/k1p73q.jpg

Drying time for primer 5-10min
Drying time for gloss 15-20min

Its been about a year since ive done mine and no paint peels/flakes etc just tiny bit faded.

[monk_13]

Clean em up real good.

Degreaser, then contact cleaner or something similar. When handling, use gloves. Spray with good quality spray can shit.

[DISTRBD]

Thats up there on the stupidest shit ever done list :slap:


I was lazy and didnt take the brakes off painted it on there, then with the hubs painted them black. Rest the paint on rotors comes off after 2min of driving anyway.

http://i42.tinypic.com/k1p73q.jpg

[HIKARI]

I used high temp pot belly black paint with brush to give the crinkle effect. Few hard brakes and voila.

[Gladio]

DISTRBD It worked pritty good for a 30min job haha

[kurbn]

I am sure your pads loved being covered in paint LOL

[Nic_A31]

haha the lazy knobs on SAU made a sticky just like that - keep the calipers on and mounted.... Fuck that.

DSTRBD, what would you suggest ? or what about anodizing them instead ?

[mitchy]

Yep too much paint combo's.

Dont even need heat proof primer really.

As said Rub it all back first.

What I did was just wash it down with turps, Apply 1coat of metal primer(spray can), then get a gloss finish and apply 1-2 coats.


White Knights works best imo Or Dulux spray cans.

Might fade a little after 5~ months but what do you expect with all that brake dust going over them.

I was lazy and didnt take the brakes off painted it on there, then with the hubs painted them black. Rest the paint on rotors comes off after 2min of driving anyway.

http://i42.tinypic.com/k1p73q.jpg

Drying time for primer 5-10min
Drying time for gloss 15-20min

Its been about a year since ive done mine and no paint peels/flakes etc just tiny bit faded.

LOL!

even tight ass 31 owners can afford news paper to cover shit that shouldn't be painted.

[Gladio]

Yeh I dunno what the hell I was thinking tbh.

[DISTRBD]

haha the lazy knobs on SAU made a sticky just like that - keep the calipers on and mounted.... Fuck that.

DSTRBD, what would you suggest ? or what about anodizing them instead ?


Will did these in his shed with gun and some clear as last coat .. new rotors faded way before calipers :)

http://www.swbrakes.com.au/gts2/IMG_6039.JPG

[Pav]

DSTRBD, what would you suggest ? or what about anodizing them instead ?

Anodizing would always be the best, but it's too much fucking around and prob more expensive.

When I painted my Sumitomo calipers first I cleaned em down in the kerosene bath (keep in mind they were stripped down to nothing with all pistons and rubber seals removed), then hosed em off with water, then dried em with the air compressor gun, then brushed/wiped em down with methylated spirits and then air again. After sanding/roughing up the surface you want to paint, wipe em over with some thinners on a rag and let dry. Then I started applying the paint. Don't worry about primer just do thin coats one at a time.

[mitchy]

Will did these in his shed with gun and some clear as last coat .. new rotors faded way before calipers :)

http://www.swbrakes.com.au/gts2/IMG_6039.JPG

spent all your coin on brembo covers, no money for rotors? :p

[DISTRBD]

Anodizing would always be the best, but it's too much fucking around and prob more expensive.
.


Yep because my anodized rotor hats look great compared to the calipers ..All went on car at same time fresh n new :)

[Pav]

Yep because my anodized rotor hats look great compared to the calipers ..All went on car at same time fresh n new :)

I was thinking more about the anodized coating being able to let more heat escape rather than being trapped under a dozen layers of paint. Sucks that it's faded that much, i thought it'd last longer than that. Either way you should never paint your calipers red unless they're something decent like Brembos. Perhaps a black anodizing would last longer and not look so bad when faded?

[bhappy]

vht paint is hit and miss.

[DISTRBD]

DBA Alloy hats crap , blacks look worse after 12 months .. My Project MU are still like new after 18months

[Nic_A31]

I'm trying to get blue (like sky blue, but a tad darker without being "sea" blue). Think it'd turn up shmick behind some black Drifteks (or similar) on a dark grey/black Ceffy.

Is anodizing something I should try myself at home or give to somebody else?
If I do this myself, how do I go about anodizing 2 pieces? do I do each piece seperately, or do I bolt them together? and do I need to block the fluid galleries and bleed valve when I do it ? do I need to remove pistons and seals (I'm gonna get the calipers rebuilt anyway).

[mitchy]

unless you have electrolysis tanks, i dont think you will be doing it yourself.

you can powder coat calipers too, i'd recommend that for the best coating.

[Turbo2.6L]

Yep too much paint combo's.

Dont even need heat proof primer really.

As said Rub it all back first.

What I did was just wash it down with turps, Apply 1coat of metal primer(spray can), then get a gloss finish and apply 1-2 coats.


White Knights works best imo Or Dulux spray cans.

Might fade a little after 5~ months but what do you expect with all that brake dust going over them.

I was lazy and didnt take the brakes off painted it on there, then with the hubs painted them black. Rest the paint on rotors comes off after 2min of driving anyway.

http://i42.tinypic.com/k1p73q.jpg

Drying time for primer 5-10min
Drying time for gloss 15-20min

Its been about a year since ive done mine and no paint peels/flakes etc just tiny bit faded.

ROFL!
Wasn't this a feature car in PSC? Bet they didn't include that in the write-up!

[Pav]

Dude, you do realize that anodizing is a process that requires you to bath the object in a solution whilst you pass current through to it or whatever; read up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodizing

It's not really a back yard job, stick with the painting I reckon.

[Nic_A31]

Yeah I had a vague idea of how it's done but yeah, nothing I'm familiar with, which is why I'm asking.

Thanks for the help guys - much more helpful than SAU:WA :D

[Gladio]

ROFL!
Wasn't this a feature car in PSC? Bet they didn't include that in the write-up!

No, It was Street Fords.

And why in the world would they write about stock brakes? Because there is a little bit of paint on them?

Maybe if they were big brakes with custom paint they MIGHT write up about it...


Here is pics I took this arvo.

Don't know whats the big deal really. 30min job for all 4 brakes and cost me $10 bucks. Im happy.

http://i40.tinypic.com/4uj5mh.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/2aeynih.jpg

Will get better brakes eventually but the topic isn't about that currently is it.

[Daisy]

http://i42.tinypic.com/k1p73q.jpg


WOW. and your a painter by trade.

[mitchy]

WOW. and your a painter by trade.

cheap cheap, just dont expect your carpet or cornice to not be covered in paint. :lol:

[Gladio]

:flipa: