Brake caliper painting

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  • Boxcab

    MSI EM
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 22, 2007
    7,865
    AA County
    A better pic now that these have landed state side:

    12391087_1073755376001841_5801435085108403234_n.jpg


    The only paint on that caliper is the PORSCHE lettering.

    Paint acts as an insulator, though I'm sure there are heat conductive paints available. I would think bare metal or flat black anodized would perform the best.... but not provide the look many folks are looking for. These polished calipers probably have a clear coat on them (anodized?). For the best combination of looks and performance, a milled "finned" surface to maximize the radiant area along with a flat black finish may be the direction to head.

    Just some thoughts, I'm willing to be educated.

    BTW, OP what did you end up doing?
     

    Blaster229

    God loves you, I don't.
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 14, 2010
    46,409
    Glen Burnie
    I was just in HP Racing in Glen Burnie getting windows tinted. They paint brake calipers for $350 and takes a whole day.

    Yeah yeah, let's hear how some can " Do it myself for $25 and a little bit of time " blabbity blah blah. Some people do not have the time, knowledge, tools or talent to do this.
    $350 to drop your car off and pick it up the next day is easy peasy.
     

    FrankOceanXray

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 29, 2008
    12,028
    That is a potentially ridiculous price. Are they simple painting them? Powder coating and rebuilding my calipers?

    There are some things to pay to have done.. this ain't one of them. If you care enough what your calipers look like.. you have enough sense to not pay someone else for the work. This a talentless job. Clean and scrape off calipers. Great prep is key to paint. Paint with brush. Fun DIY job...

    I felt like a fool paying for tires to be mounted. Just no room for a tore changing station.
     

    Blaster229

    God loves you, I don't.
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 14, 2010
    46,409
    Glen Burnie
    That is a potentially ridiculous price. Are they simple painting them? Powder coating and rebuilding my calipers?

    There are some things to pay to have done.. this ain't one of them. If you care enough what your calipers look like.. you have enough sense to not pay someone else for the work. This a talentless job. Clean and scrape off calipers. Great prep is key to paint. Paint with brush. Fun DIY job...

    I felt like a fool paying for tires to be mounted. Just no room for a tore changing station.

    Like I said, some people have all day to invest in a project. A lot don't. Some don't have the equipment, like I said. How about have the room to do it? Level driveway? No, then you're left to park in the street. That's safe.
    How about paying for a person or place for the knowledge and experience? Little nuances.

    Sure, anyone can pick a gun up and shoot it, but it's gonna cost you a little more for me to show you how to. Caliper painting is a want, not a need. I paid a dealer $40 to install a short reset trigger that I could have done myself, but I didn't feel like it.
    Frugal isn't for everyone.
     

    protegeV

    Ready to go
    Apr 3, 2011
    46,880
    TX
    That is a potentially ridiculous price. Are they simple painting them? Powder coating and rebuilding my calipers?

    There are some things to pay to have done.. this ain't one of them. If you care enough what your calipers look like.. you have enough sense to not pay someone else for the work. This a talentless job. Clean and scrape off calipers. Great prep is key to paint. Paint with brush. Fun DIY job...

    I felt like a fool paying for tires to be mounted. Just no room for a tore changing station.

    "potentially" I guess, based on what they're actually doing. When I did my wife's car it took me about 3 hours of work to remove the calipers from the hub, separate from the brackets, remove pads and hardware, tape and mask everything off and paint. Then it really is supposed to take at least 4-6 hours before you put it all back together for the paint to be dry to the touch. So you have a car taking up a spot on a lift for a long while in a shop.
     

    Blaster229

    God loves you, I don't.
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 14, 2010
    46,409
    Glen Burnie
    $350 sounds steep just for painting considering that's how much it cost for me to send mine out to a powder coat guy who disassembled then, coated, then reassembled and shipped back to me for that cost.

    Sorry, many of us do not know how to disassemble calipers, bleed brake lines and put it all back together again. Not that this has to be done with painting them. Oh, and have a lift to do it all safely.

    So, how much would your powder coat place charge to disassemble and reassemble them for you? Much more than 350.
     
    Last edited:

    BradMacc82

    Ultimate Member
    Industry Partner
    Aug 17, 2011
    26,177
    For some of the newer cars with electronic parking brakes, painting them ain't worth it IMO.

    Just the headache of getting the rear calipers into service mode so you can actually remove them is enough of a headache if you don't have access to scan tools - like a Snap-On Solus Ultra.

    Then the bleed procedure on the newer cars can be just as bad - Toyota's with their accumulator pumps, just kill me now. We had an '06 Impala in the shop for 2 days trying to get all the air out of the system - and that was with a Master ASE tech with 20+ years experience.

    To be fair though, the one piece of equipment he took home (personally owned), was the piece of gear he really needed to do the job by the book.

    $350 is a bargain, for some vehicles.
     

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