Painted Calipers (7-21-01)
Equipment
Directions
I jacked up one side of my PGT and placed jack stands under one side of the car.
Removed the wheels on that side.
Took some 150 grit Sand Paper and sanded down both of those Calipers to remove any surface rust or anything else off of them.
Hosed them down with a hose.
Dried them off with a towel.
Now I tore off small pieces of the masking tape to cover up all the small moving pieces of the caliper. This included any small rubber pieces along with the brake pads and rotors. Also, I did not care if the back of the calipers were painted, so I just covered up the back as well. After all the small pieces which I did not intend to paint were covered up, continue on to Step 8.
I then pulled out a trash bag and began to tape it over everything around where the caliper connects that I did not want any over-spray to contact. (ex: the rest of the rotors, springs, etc...) Be sure that the trash bag is secured decently with the masking tape so that when the wind blows, it doesn't get blown into your paint when you are painting it.
Shake the can of paint for a couple minutes (as the directions tell you to) and take off the cap (may require a screwdriver depending on your strength).
Here comes the box. Hold the box across from the direction you are painting inside the wheel well so that any over-spray you may have will go onto the box. Also, you can test the paint to be sure that it is the color you are interested in.
Spray thin coats of paint all over the caliper from approximately 12 inches away in short sprays. Be sure to keep the spray moving to reduce the chances of runs in the paint.
Wait 10 minutes (approx).
Repeat steps 11 and 12 two more times (or until desired look).
Wait 4 hours (approx) so that the paint is relatively dry to the touch.
Pull off the masking tape slowly, use a knife to break any little pieces which might cause the paint to tear away from the intended painted pieces.
Place wheels back on carefully, as to not touch the caliper with the rims and scratch them.
BINGO, you are Finished!
Comments:
I suggest you take the tape off the calipers after the 4 hours but let them sit the 24 hours before you put the wheels back on. Just to lessen the possibility if you hit the caliper of scraping off the semi-gooey paint.
Update:
Alright, big OOPS here. I was having some of, what I believed to be, front end problems. Before I brought it into the shop, I jacked up the front end to take a look at my CV Boots. They looked fine, not broken, not even cracked. So I thought maybe the CV Joints themselves might have issues so I tried to move the tire to see if it wabbled. Perhaps a tie rod even. But no, they didn't wabble at all. So with no ideas left (and it being under warranty for the next 2000 miles) I drove it on down to the shop to get it looked at. Apparently, so they say and I strongly doubt, my lugs were not all tight. The guy said that all 4 tires had loose lugs. Now I put them on myself, possibly I lost track of what I was doing (phone call maybe) and did not tighten one of the tires lugs... or two lugs on one tire since I have driven about 2000 miles since I painted my Calipers. It is a good idea any time you remove your tires and put them back on to check your lugs for tightness about 500 miles later. I surely will do that from now on, glad I didn't have to pay for someone to tighten it. Must have been a back tire doing it, and I had only checked the front ones.