Painting calipers

[BobbyBRD]

Can anyone post a nice play by play on caliper removal and more important reinstalation after painting. Not so much the bolting but more the connetion of the brakeline etc.

Thanks

Bobby

[BobbyBRD]

No one have some support?

[SmartPassion]

This is planned project. But would be nice if someone posted pictures or make a sticky.

[mmmeat]

Originally Posted by BobbyBRD

Can anyone post a nice play by play on caliper removal and more important reinstalation after painting. Not so much the bolting but more the connetion of the brakeline etc.

Thanks

Bobby

I don't have any specific support ... but I can certainly tell you where to go!

Try evilution's site. TONS of good information there!

Your pal,
Meat.

[stuberman]

I was fairly unhappy with my plain gray drums and calipers so I decided to buy one of the caliper paint kits and rectify the situation. ALong the way I also decided that I should replace my OEM brake pads with new EBC Black pads. My car has almost 3,000 miles so the reasoning was that I wanted to reduce the brake dust and EBC pads I hear will do the trick. This job took me two days of fairly casual and easy effort.


First I loosened up the wheel lugnuts using a 15mm socket and bar.



Then I jacked up the car (I used the lowest setting on my cheap 2 Ton floor jacks which is about 11 inches.) and removed the wheels. For the rear I jacked up on the rear tubes and positioned a jack under each tube.



On the front I jacked up the lower wishbone and placed the jackstand under the front jacking point. There are not a lot of solid and exposed places to jack up the car.


Man those front wheels are dirty in the inside and a real pain to try to clean when mounted. This is the main reason I wanted to install new pads that should create less dust.


Before starting to mess with the brakes I unscrew the resevoir cap to allow the pistons to be pressed back in.

[stuberman]

First I remove the caliper housing using a 13mm box wrench. Notice the position of the pad springs through the housing slot. They do not protrude. I also hang the caliper housing from the suspension using a bit of cut wire clothes hanger.


Then I remove the caliper frame using a 18mm socket and bar.


Here is the removed caliper frame and old OEM pads. The pads have plenty of life left in them.


The rotor is now held in place with a T-30 Torx bit head screw and requires some gentle rapping with a hammer and block to free up.


The drum comes off much easier also with a T-30 bit.

[stuberman]

I then clean everything I can with solvent followed by the spray brake cleaner that came in the Dupli-Color Caliper Paint Kit.


I purchased a yellow Dupli-Color Caliper Paint Kit as well as a single 12 oz can of yellow Dupli-Color Caliper spray paint. Then kit includes a 8 oz can of paint, brake cleaner, a small brush, a stick for mixing and a small roll of masking tape. Here I used the Wall Street Journal to mask the rotors. The little roll of masking tape lasted the whole job.


After cleaning the caliper housing I then tape off the piston to keep paint off of it.


You can see the big difference in color between the can of paint and the spray paint. The can was much too orange so I stuck with the spray paint which is still a bit dark but close enough for my taste.


I mask off the wheel wells to keep the overpsray to a minimum.

[stuberman]

Between light coats of paint I give the wheels a good cleaning using dish soap. You are supposed to wait a minimum of 10 minutes up to one hour between coats.


I probably applied 8 coats throughout the day. This was at the end of the first day of effort. I needed to let them dry overnight before restarting work. So far I had about 5 hours into this.


Next day I removed the masking tape and sanded any overspray and rust. I used a finishing sander for large areas and a Dremel tool for the slide areas on the calipers.


And since I want to keep the wheels clean I apply several coats of Liquid Glass on the inside and outside of the wheels. I also apply some of that glossy tire goop to give the tires some shine. I had to use some solvent to clean the tar and nasty bits on the inside of the rims and it really dulled the rubber.


Then I reinstalled the rotors with the T-30 screw and the caliper frames torquing the 18mm bolts to 80 foot pounds.

[stuberman]

I then attached the drums to the rear axles with the T-30 screws after cleaning the drums and shoes with brake cleaner.


Here are my new EBC Black pads from smarts-R-us pictured next to the OEM Bosch pads. I chose Black over Green since I did not need more aggressive braking just less dust and I understand they are both made with Kevlar.


I fit the pads in using a little high temp anti-seize lubricant on the piston, caliper frame and caliper forks to prevent binding. The prong on the pads faces toward the center of the car.


I attach the caliper housing using an open end wrench with moderate pressure.


Check that the spring ends on the pads to not protrude through the caliper housing slots.

[stuberman]

Finally all back together. (Torque the wheel lug nuts to around 80 foot pounds.) The car has painted drums, calipers and rotors - as well as new EBC pads to reduce brake dust and waxed (polymer) wheels to make cleaning easier. Today was another 5 hours totalling 10 hours including photos, reading, and enjoying a little DYI. Total cash cost a little over $100 - most of that in EBC pads and shipping. I would also say you do not need the caliper paint kit but just the Caliper Spray paint and some good brake cleaner. Of course your friendly neighborhood smart center should be able to do this and keep you clean



Close up on rear wheel.


Close up on front wheel.