How To Paint Brake Calipers

Posted by KeelyCarey on July 7th, 2021

Many fans of the motor world, and tuning, make use of all the resources available to them to customize their vehicles. Common customizations include painting brake calipers. But how to paint the brake calipers on our own?

Painted calipers can be very attractive to the eye, while not representing a significant financial outlay. It is therefore an easy to carry out and inexpensive modification that will give our car a more sporty and personal appearance. If you want to learn additional information on painting, you've to check out the post right here Paintsmartly site.

If you have some knowledge on the subject and some brake caliper paint, you are in luck as you can paint the brake calipers yourself to easily customize this component on your vehicle. Without further delay, let's discover everything you need to do it!

Preliminary Considerations For Painting Brake Calipers

There are several methods of painting brake calipers that give results of varying quality. The difficulty of these methods is also variable, so we must make sure that we are able to carry them out before starting.

If you do not have the knowledge of mechanics, necessary for disassembly, and of painting, for the painting task itself, it is best to take the vehicle to the workshop for help. If we perform the work of removing the brake caliper incorrectly, this can cause further damage.

Another aspect that we must consider before starting is the color that we are going to give to the brake caliper. Ideally, the color chosen for the calipers should match the color of the body or the rims, for example, red brake calipers look really good with gray rims.

Remember to note that the vehicle's brake system is rigorously inspected during a technical vehicle inspection (ITV). Therefore, if any abnormality is detected in the brake calipers or if the ones that are installed are not adequate, you may have problems passing it.

Any modification made to the brake system of a vehicle must have its corresponding homologation. In these cases, it will be necessary to have a document certifying that the modification has been carried out correctly and by a qualified technical mechanic.

How To Paint Brake Calipers

If we have already decided, the first step we must carry out is to remove the wheels of the car. Once we have access to the tweezers, they can be painted directly. However, this is a somewhat sloppy solution.

Ideally, you should remove the brake calipers before painting them:

Disassembly is done starting with the calipers installed on the front wheels. You can make the process easier by turning the wheels a little. When we have access to this component, we proceed to loosen the caliper bolts and disconnect the sleeves.

Once the caliper is disassembled, you must consider the option of removing the layer of paint that they carry, as the result will be much better. To remove the old paint layer, a stripper is used, applied 15-20 minutes and then cleaned with scourer or sandblasting, or they are sanded.

This piece is very exposed to dirt, which is why it accumulates in several layers. If we are looking for the most effective cleaning of the brake calipers, it is advisable to also disassemble the caliper itself and clean its components individually.

Once the brake caliper is well cleaned, it is checked that the caliper is in good condition and any imperfections that are found are repaired.

Next, we cover the pistons of the calipers with painter's tape or other protection and we go to the next phase: it gives a primer coat:

There are sprays to apply the primer coat, the details of use, such as the drying time, are indicated on the product itself.

The primer is applied in several layers and serves to protect the metal and to improve the adhesion of the layers of paint that follow.

When we finish applying the primer and, respecting the drying time, it is time to start painting.

If we are going to use a caliper spray, the steps and recommendations to follow to paint brake calipers are:

The paint is sprayed at a distance of 20 centimeters, moving the arm from the elbow, not with the wrist. Thus, the layer of paint applied on the caliper will be more uniform. The paint is applied in several layers throughout the clamp, without dwelling on the details to avoid accumulations and unevenness of paint in certain parts.

Therefore, it is advisable to take a first pass, or general passes, and then go on painting the details that may have been exposed.

Performing all these steps, including cleaning and stripping the original paint, and using a good quality brake caliper paint, the result will be very good, almost professional. If we skip any of these important steps, the result may not be as good.

So if you have some skills to paint brake calipers on your own, it's not that difficult to do. By following the tips and procedures in this publication and using the correct caliper paint, it shouldn't be too difficult.