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To paint or not to paint calipers

To paint or not to paint Calipers

23K views 47 replies 24 participants last post by  nsibanez 
#1 ·
I have been contemplating whether or not to paint my calipers.I looked for pics of painted calipers but haven't found many.I'm guessing this isn't a popular mod.Will painting give the car too much of a ricer look?I have decided to leave it to the community to decide.By the way my car is a WRB & I want to paint the calipers red.
 
#2 ·
this is NOT ricer:


but, we are not members of a subaru forum b/c we drive ferraris right?

this is what your car may look like, with 2011 wheels of course:


i like it. my vote is yes, as long as you do it correctly, with the right paint. nothing is worse than a halfassed painted caliper.
 
#3 ·
My calipers are painted red, I don't think it's ricey at all (I mostly painted the calipers red because the rust was killing me). I think that painting the drum-brakes on the back of your Honda is ricey :rolleyes:
 
#10 ·
Go for it. I'm the biggest anti-ricer out there and personally, I think painting nice calipers red is pretty cool. Just don't go painting tiny little ones red and throw 19" wheels on there that leave 6" of space between the caliper and inside of the wheel. Or paint drum brakes red. RICEY as helll.
 
#14 ·
I vote yes! I want to paint mine now because of this
 
#17 ·
Some Subarus come with red calipers OEM. So do any Porsche S models or Turbos.
 
#16 ·
Who cares what anyone calls it - as long as you like the look. I have a friend who painted his red (he has a black 08 Impreza Outback with tint - and it looks great with the dark car. When my winter wheels come off in several weeks I am painting mine red as well (I'm DGM). It will take a lot more things done to your car for anyone to call you rice.
 
#18 ·
Since starting this thread,after all the positive suggestions,I went ahead and painted them the weekend before last.Took me a day to finish the work.I applied 3-4 coats of Duplicolor red and clear coated with a high gloss enamel.I have to say it looks terrific.I still have my winter wheels on,so they don't show that much,but I tried on an OEM summer wheel and they show well.It was too dark to take pics once I finished.I will try to take some next weekend.Thank you for all the suggestions.
 
#19 ·
A few questions - since I'm planning on this shortly.

Did you use paint that was specific for calipers? Same for the clear coat? How long was the drying time?
 
#20 ·
I used duplicolor ceramic caliper paint from the local auto store.It dries real fast.It comes with caliper cleaner,masking tape & a brush.Although I would suggest you get a better art brush,bcoz the brush they give you is terrible.You need just 1 kit.They didn't say there was a need for a clear coat in the instructions,but I had some lying around so I used it.Drying time between coats is 10-15 minutes.
Also I scrubbed the calipers with soap & water first,dried & then sprayed the caliper cleaner.Oh yeah,and get paint thinner for your brush.

Total cost of project=$19.99

The looks =priceless
 
#23 · (Edited)
Don't do this...... just don't.

Your $19.99 Autozone caliper painting kit is going to look like crap in 30 days. TRUST me on this. It will fade, it will lose it's gloss, and especially if it is rusty underneath, it will chip off and collect brake dust that won't ever clean off. In 30 days, it will look like red primer.

If you must cover up the rust..... go with black or silver... at least then it will look "clean" or "new-ish" again.

Red painted stock brake calipers just SCREAM pimply-faced 16-year old boy that just got a $20 check from Grandma for his birthday. It doesn't look "cool"... it doesn't make your car look like it has a big brake kit.... and it certainly doesn't improve the look of your car, particularly to those that actually know what they are looking at.

Unless of course you're trying to impress the same 16-year old boy mentioned above.

Loud colors look great on cars with massive sealed 4 and 6-piston brake calipers. For the tiny cast stockers, loud colors just look silly. I've read a few posts that say "Don't do it to drum brakes - that's rice". Guess what.... doing it to your tiny stock cast calipers is just the same.

If you want to do it..... and you want it to look clean and professional..... remove them, strip them down, and take them to a powdercoater to be sandblasted and professionally coated with a finish that will last forever, not just a couple months at best. Nickel coated, or even brass/gold coated would look nice if done properly. It's not expensive - I had all 4 of my calipers powdercoated for $100..... and I have tracked them numerous times,and they still look brand new.

Do it the right way...... or don't do it at all.
 
#24 ·
Your $19.99 Autozone caliper painting kit is going to look like crap in 30 days. TRUST me on this. It will fade, it will lose it's gloss, and especially if it is rusty underneath, it will chip off and collect brake dust that won't ever clean off. In 30 days, it will look like red primer.

Red painted stock brake calipers just SCREAM pimply-faced 16-year old boy that just got a $20 check from Grandma for his birthday. It doesn't look "cool"... it doesn't make your car look like it has a big brake kit.... and it certainly doesn't improve the look of your car, particularly to those that actually know what they are looking at.
You are welcome to your opinion, but I have to disagree. On the dark colors, black and DGM, the red calipers add a nice splash. I like the look - and I'm not a pimply faced 16 year old, nor do I care what they think - only what I think. I am not trying to convince anyone that I have something I don't, just adding a splash of color that goes well with the other touches of red on the 2011s.

As far as how long they last, if done well they will give several years of looking nice before a repaint is in order. This is based on two friends who have 2008s who painted them just after purchase and both still look sharp. Neither have repainted, and neither did anything more than mutli-coating caliper paint. We are talking about new-ish calipers that don't have years of rust on them - that would be a bad combo with a paint job. Painting new and clean calipers is another story. If I wanted to spend the money on perfection, sure powdercoating would be wonderful, but I don't need to go there to achieve a look that I want.

BTW - I'm never a fan of telling others what does or does not look good. That is way too subjective an area to speak to as an authority.
 
#27 ·
Thank you for your expertise,but my calipers are new just like my car.I had about 1200 miles on the car when I did the job.I took my time cleaning what little build up there was on the caliper,used multiple thick coats & added a glossy overcoat.So far they look the same they did the day I painted them.In fact I just cleaned them today.
My intention was not to make them look like Brembos,just to spice the wheel area up a bit,along with the other red accents on the car.
 
#28 ·
Would sandblasting followed by powder coating not result in a very resilient finish? In any case, IMO life is quite short and I'd not bother personally -- but I think powder might be a permanent solution nonetheless.
 
#29 ·
Have painted the calipers on other cars using the Duplicolor kit, came out great. And that was on a car with 45K on it and notorious for brake dust. Of course they would get dirty, but a little cleaning shined them up great.

Thinking of doing the same soon on my WRB 2011 before the rust gets in. Trying to decide between red or yellow. There isn't any red on the exterior to go with red calipers, the only other color on the outside is the yellow from the new NY license plates. Would be nice if I could incorporate that into the scheme of the car. But the interior does have the red stitching, though. So any opinions red or yellow or other?
 
#33 ·
I'd probably do a Gunmetal, Silver or Black. That being said a sales rep told me that the calipers on the 2011's don't rust. How much truth is in that? I figure whilst the car is new would be the perfect time to take care of it.
 
#34 ·
I just rotated my tires for the 3rd time and cleaned my calipers off. They look great. I've thought about doing them red.

I'm going to wait and see what Rage says about how his have held up
 
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