Brake caliper painting

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  • OrbitalEllipses

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 18, 2013
    4,139
    DPR of MoCo
    I painted my Audi S4's brakes in red, and ran probably 20 track days in it. Went through 3 sets of rotors and pads. They turned pink probably 3-4 years later. Probably from the age of the paint. I am not saying it doesn't happen, but I haven't seen it, not that I go looking for it. Maybe the brown is from brake dust

    STI calipers are gold painter, EVO calipers are red...both turn a brownish color. Perhaps it's the underlying construction - they use the same basic Brembo caliper shape from what I understand.

    If your S4 has Alcons, well that's a radically different caliper than an OEM EVO/STI 4pot Brembo. Your picture looks like a forged monobloc, bridged caliper with significant cooling slots.
     

    protegeV

    Ready to go
    Apr 3, 2011
    46,880
    TX
    STI calipers are gold painter, EVO calipers are red...both turn a brownish color. Perhaps it's the underlying construction - they use the same basic Brembo caliper shape from what I understand.
    I was waiting for a response from you to my last post. I believe you if you've seen it as I know you've been around subarus almost as long as me, but I've never seen an sti or evo caliper turn brown. My 06 calipers are still gold, never refinished. I've seen a plethora of evos with pink faded calipers, but never brown :shrug:



    All these cars are basically the same caliper and use the same pads. The difference is the ears, where they mount to the knuckle on each car.

    Subaru Impreza
    WRX STI
    2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
    WRX STI Limited
    2007
    WRX STI Hatchback
    2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
    WRX STI Special Edition Hatchback
    2010
    WRX STI Limited Sedan
    2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
    WRX STI Limited Hatchback
    2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
    WRX STI Sedan
    2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
    Subaru WRX STI
    Base
    2015
    Mitsubishi Lancer
    Evolution
    2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
    Evolution MR
    2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
    Evolution RS
    2005, 2006
    Evolution SE
    2006
    Evolution GSR
    2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
    Evolution MR Touring
    2010
    Pontiac G8
    GXP
    2009
    Chevrolet Camaro
    SS
    2010, 2011
    Ford GT
    Base
    2005, 2006
    Ford Mustang
    Shelby GT500
    2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
    GT
    2011
    Volvo S60
    R
    2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
    Volvo V70
    R
    2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
    Hyundai Genesis Coupe
    3.8 Track
    2010, 2011, 2012
    2.0T Track
    2010
    2.0T R-Spec
    2010, 2011, 2012
    3.8 R-Spec
    2011, 2012
    Cadillac CTS
    V
    2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
    Cadillac STS
    V
    2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
    Platinum
    2008, 2009
     

    Overboost44

    6th gear
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 10, 2013
    6,619
    Kent Island
    I had my Subaru wheels powder coated by them last week. Highly recommended.

    What did you pay for that? I was going to use G2 on my Miata brakes, but if I get wheels done, I may have them powder coated if they do brakes too.

    STI calipers are gold painter, EVO calipers are red...both turn a brownish color. Perhaps it's the underlying construction - they use the same basic Brembo caliper shape from what I understand.

    If your S4 has Alcons, well that's a radically different caliper than an OEM EVO/STI 4pot Brembo. Your picture looks like a forged monobloc, bridged caliper with significant cooling slots.

    I wish I had the Alcon's, but no. The picture is a forged "racing brake caliper". I was just showing how real brakes can be painted rather than raw.
     

    OrbitalEllipses

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 18, 2013
    4,139
    DPR of MoCo
    I wish I had the Alcon's, but no. The picture is a forged "racing brake caliper". I was just showing how real brakes can be painted rather than raw.

    /shrug. Every AP caliper billed for racing (stainless pistons and no dust boots) comes hard anodized, no paint.

    I'd say the 911 GT3 is about as "true" a race car as there is out there and those calipers are painted and not hard anodized. Seems to be working for them.

    It's a street car. The actual race car is a GT3 RSR and I'm not sure if the brakes are painted.

    I was waiting for a response from you to my last post. I believe you if you've seen it as I know you've been around subarus almost as long as me, but I've never seen an sti or evo caliper turn brown. My 06 calipers are still gold, never refinished. I've seen a plethora of evos with pink faded calipers, but never brown :shrug:

    I've seen STIs fade to brown with track use - it's the heat. I may have gotten the EVO color wrong then, but I had heard of them fading with repeated track use as well.

    Heh, Brembo loves to sell that caliper. The Brembo calipers on my current vehicle are apparently shared only with one model of AMG from several years back...expensive ass pads man.
     
    Last edited:

    protegeV

    Ready to go
    Apr 3, 2011
    46,880
    TX
    Took me a few weeks to get to it, but it came out great. Lucky for me it was a slow day at work yesterday. Having a lift makes the job 1000x easier
     

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    protegeV

    Ready to go
    Apr 3, 2011
    46,880
    TX
    That looks good. I have to sand blast my calipers and brackets before painting. I am going with black, too.

    Yeah, i tried to get it done before the calipers got too dirty. It only has 4k miles on it so some brake clean took care of the brake dust. They were zinc coated to begin with and the bright silver stuck out like a sore thumb.

    I'll tell ya, they say you can reassemble after 2 hours. That's a lie. They were still tacky as hell after 3 hours.
     

    Overboost44

    6th gear
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 10, 2013
    6,619
    Kent Island
    Yeah, i tried to get it done before the calipers got too dirty. It only has 4k miles on it so some brake clean took care of the brake dust. They were zinc coated to begin with and the bright silver stuck out like a sore thumb.

    I'll tell ya, they say you can reassemble after 2 hours. That's a lie. They were still tacky as hell after 3 hours.

    Now that you mention it. I remember that. The longer you can wait the better it will be. Though a little heat build up may help them cure more quickly.
     

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