MackayWRX.com

DIY: Painting your brake calipers

What you need:

Paint – Metal Primer and Gloss Colour Topcoat

– 1x can Dulux QuickDry Metal Primer (Around $7 from Kmart/ Local Paint shop)
Note: Applying a quality metal primer is very important, not only for paint adhesion but as a base colour. Do not skip this step.

- 1x can VHT Brake Caliper paint. (Around $16 from Supercheap/Autobarn/Repco)

Other paint - Silver or Black Heatproof paint for the hubs & any other rusty bits (optional)

Tools
– Two Jacks & or chassis stands
– Wheel Wrench

Other Stuff
– Mineral Turpentine (for cleanup)

– Medium Sandpaper
– Sugar Soap ($3 bottle from any supermarket)
– A Dustpan Brush
– Plenty of Newspaper (local paper is a good size)
– Hot water in a bucket (add 1/3 of a cup of sugar soap)

Step One – removing wheels

Always keep two of the wheels on the ground for stability, and ensure they are either chocked or have something keeping them from rolling.

Choose and end to jack up – front or back.

Front – handbrake on, car in neutral.
Back – handbrake off, car in 1st/Park.

Loosen wheel nuts and then jack the body up and remove the wheels.

Step Two – Preparation. VERY IMPORTANT!

Rough or pre-painted calipers should be sanded with medium grit sand paper. If the paint is flaking or in really poor condition, see the stripping guide below.
It's very important to remove all oil and dirt from the calipers and hubs.

Thoroughly clean calipers and hubs with sugar soap & hot water. A scouring pad with sponge is useful, also a dustpan-brush as the long bristles reach into nooks and crannies. Sugar soap removes grease and prepares the surface for painting.

Once they're clean & dry, get an old newspaper and cover the discs & hubs .. you can shove the newspaper in under the edges of the calipers and wrap it behind the discs so it stays in place.

Step Three – Primer

Apply a thin, even coat of Dulux Quick dry Metal Primer. Just enough so that you can't see any of the dark caliper colour through the coat.

Step Four – Top coat

Be very careful here. Gloss enamel is prone to running or buckling if applied too thick. The first coat of topcoat should be very thin, you should still be able to make out some of the primer colour underneath. Leave it dry for at least 20 minutes.

Apply two more coats at 20 minute intervals. After this the colour should be strong and bright:

Step Five (optional) – Fiddley bits

Lettering – If you're lucky enough to have four-pot brakes, the decals can be painted on with a small tipped brush. It's very fiddley but it comes up good if you take your time and apply a steady hand. (MY99 – MY04 wrx only)

Later Models have flat caliper decals which can't be painted. Spectrix (http://www.spectrix.com.au) sells replacement logos for these.

Note these are not available from subaru australia unless you buy the whole caliper! Spectrix carries white & red subaru decals. They also carry brembo decals for STi & GTRs. Postage available worldwide.

Small- 55x11mm SUBARU (suits MY01 onwards rear twinspot)
Large – 95x18mm SUBARU (suits MY05 onwards fronts, and also older MY94 – MY98 fronts)

Please see http://www.spectrix.com.au to order a set.

Step Six – Clean up the disc.

Despite your best efforts with the newspaper you'll probably end up with some paint on the discs.
Turn the hub/disc around to expose the overspray. If its too stiff use a lever (broom handle works well).
Wet a rag with turps and wipe any excess paint off the disc surface.

Step Seven – The end.

Put your wheels back on, lower the car, ensure the wheel nuts are tight, and step back to admire your handywork.

VHT Caliper paint is water & chemical resistant once it is cured properly. This requires time & heat. You can drive as soon as the paint is touch dry, but don't wash the car / wheels for a couple of days.

Step Five (optional) – Fiddley bits

Lettering – If you're lucky enough to have four-pot brakes, the decals can be painted on with a small tipped brush. It's very fiddley but it comes up good if you take your time and apply a steady hand. This is a good job for your arty girlfriend to do. (MY99 – MY04 wrx only)

Later Models have flat caliper decals which can't be painted. I sell replacement logos for these.

Note these are not available from subaru australia unless you buy the whole caliper! I carry white & red subaru decals. I also carry brembo decals for STi & GTRs. Postage available worldwide.

Small – 55x11mm SUBARU (suits MY01 onwards rear twinspot)
Large – 95x18mm SUBARU (suits MY05 onwards fronts, and also older MY94 – MY98 fronts)

Please see http://www.spectrix.com.au to order a set, or contact me from the links at the bottom of this post.

Step Six – Clean up the disc.

Despite your best efforts with the newspaper you'll probably end up with some paint on the discs.
Turn the hub/disc around to expose the overspray. If its too stiff use a lever (broom handle works well).
Wet a rag with turps and wipe any excess paint off the disc surface.

Step Seven – The end.

Put your wheels back on, lower the car, ensure the wheel nuts are tight, and step back to admire your handywork.

VHT Caliper paint is water & chemical resistant once it is cured properly. This requires time & heat. You can drive as soon as the paint is touch dry, but don't wash the car / wheels for a couple of days.

Stripping Bad Paint

A few cars may need the caliper surface completely stripped back. This is usually a result of poor preperation prior to the first application of paint, or using the wrong primer or topcoats.

If it's too far gone to clean up with sandpaper, Paint stripper is what you need.

It's important to keep it away from the pads and fluid lines, but it's the easiest and most effective way to remove a damaged surface coating.

Paint stripper quickly crinkles the surface paint and allows you to scrape it off.

It only works for a few minutes before it starts to harden again so you need to work fairly quickly, usually a few applications are required to get all the bad paint off the irregular surface of a caliper or hub.

Once you've gotten the worst of it off, wash it down with hot water & sugar soap and give it a good sand with medium sand paper. Wash it again.

Allow to dry, apply several coats of dulux quickdry metal primer, you may need to sand in between coats if the surface is still particularly rough (cast metal is usually pitted) Then just follow steps 4 though 7 on the above guide.