I just got Enkei Rs-5's for X-mas. Needless to say they show a lot of the rotor and calipers. I bought new rotors to replace my old rusty ones. Now I have to do something about the calipers. I heard about powdercoating them, because it will never chip of and I wouldn't need to re-paint them. Does anyone know how much powdercoating is? Or if I should just stick with the paint.


Thanks - Chad

 

I thought about doing the same thing, couldn't find any info on it and decided just to paint them...

Hopefully you will have better luck.

 

I've now painted two sets of calipers, and both are holding up quite well.

The key is doing a good job. I've always:

- Taken them off the car
- Clean VERY well
- 2 coats high temp primer
- 2 coats high temp engine paint
- 2 coats high temp clear coat
- Let dry overnight

No chipping, no problems.

 

foltec brake caliper kit

 

Powdercoating is the best, but it may not be worth the expense & hassle for calipers.

1) The calipers have to be "baked" in a hi-temp oven as part of the process, so you will need to: remove the rubber dust-ring from the pistons, & completely drain the caliper of any brake-fluid.

2) You'll have to send it out & wait for however long it takes to get it done by a qualified shop (more downtime for your car).


With the right prep-work and attention to detail, you can get very durable, good looking results from paint; plus it's more cost effective & you're not without use of your car for as long. I painted mine "off the car" about a year ago & they've held up great!

 

The G2 system looks pretty nice:

http://www.g2usa.com/wheel.shtml

 

how much was it for 4 new rotors?

 

No one does caliper rebuild anymore. Shops just don't want to take the liability when they can buy remanufactured units.

 

I found a powdercoating shop here in town...friend of a friend. The guy is going to hook me up. He said he would do all four calipers for 50 bucks, and I would have them back in less than 24 hours Question is...How do I get the calipers off to bring to them? I was looking at motovate.ca's site but it doesn't show exactly how to get it off of your car.

THanks - CHad

 

Good luck. I think he's expecting bare metal calipers. He's going to freak when he sees calipers with boots, piston and seals still on them.

 

Exactly...How do I get them off? Or should I just take them to a mechanic shop and them to take it apart and put back together?

 

That's a killer deal - your friend is really taking care of you.

You need to buy a Hayne's manual & do it right if you've never done this before. I figure your buddy's saving you at least $100 on the powdercoating - flip $15 of it into the manual. Don't guess on brakework - do it by the numbers & torque everything to specs. Have a helper available when you bleed the brakes.

You will need to remove all the brake-fluid, dust boots & seals from the calipers in order to prep them for powdercoating. This will be a challenge unless you remove the piston from the caliper bore.

Tip: Thread the banjo bolts back into the holes in the calipers before bringing them to be powdercoated. This will keep the threads clean and prevent contaminating the inside of the caliper with powder.

Items you should have in advance:

+4 quality jackstands
+Brake caliper piston compression tool ($8 @ most auto stores)
+Brake fluid (I recommend ATE Super Blue)
+Brake anti-squeal goo (goes on th back of the shims, between the caliper and the shim surface)
+1' length of vacuum hose cut into 4 pieces (to plug the brake-line banjo fittings, once removed from the caliper) >see Hayne's manual<
+Clear PVC tubing (3' or so) of inside diameter to fit over nipple on the caliper bleeder screw
+Assorted tools
+Torque wrench
+Brake parts cleaner - at least 2 cans

This is an ideal time to do any neccessary brake work as well: when you've got everything apart. Inspect your pads for wear before doing this job and order any parts (brake hardware kit, pads) you need, so you're good-to-go on reassembly when you get the calipers back. Have the rotors turned, if necessary at a local Pep-Boys' or brake shop.

Brakework isn't difficult, it just needs to be done correctly, that's all.

If you've thought about getting stainless steel braided brake lines, now would be the time to put them on the car, since the lines will be detached from the calipers anyway.

Also, if you want brake bleeding to be a piece of cake, pick up a set of speedbleeders: www.speedbleeder.com

I have them & they ROCK!