Ok, I'm not sure if it's entirely appropriate posting this in the 5th gen forum, but that's where I spend 99% of my org time and I want the input of those who I regularly associate with and whose posts I always read.
So, has anyone tried/heard of the Duplicolor Caliper Paint Kit? It comes with cleaner, paint, a brush, etc., and is only around $20. Its available in red, black, silver, yellow, or blue. I know duplicolor has a pretty good rep in other paint areas, and I'm most likely going to end up trying this fairly soon (in red) because you can't really beat the price. I just want to know if anyone has experience with this particular product. Thanks for any input/speculation.

 

I have used this duplicolor kit a few times with good results. It's a decent product if you are doing this project on a budget. I strongly recommend removing the calipers and sandblasting them (instead of using a wire brush). I did this on my previous vehicle with great results (3 coats of paint / 2 coats of clear). The paint endured about 2.5 years of midwestern weather.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have powdercoated them. There's a lot of small powdercoating companies around that offer quick turnarounds.

It was actually a fun project that wasn't that hard at all.

 

definitely works better when the metal is new or blasted. Painting over the rust will only last about a season or two.

 

its good stuff and works fine. if you want the best get the G2 paints, thats stuff last forever

 

Yeah. I think cuz I'm on a budget I'll get the duplicolor kit. I wouldn't be too bummed even if I had to repaint every year. For $20, I don't think I can go wrong. Especially in light of everyone's input.

 

I used a can of vht caliper paint, I'd actually do it over with a color to match the car. This was more for $hits and giggles and to keep my new rotors from rusting(painted the center part)

Its actually a lot darker than it looks and not that noticeable - only 8 bucks on amazon

 

Well, I did it. I tried out this kit in red, and I have to say, it looks amazing! I don't know how it'll hold up yet, so I guess we'll see. Oh, and I painted my horns and moved them up so they'd be slightly visible through the grille... anyway, here are some pics of the callipers:

 

thank you for only painting the caliper and not the pads too! i hate when people do that. looks good man, i like your polished IM too!

 

Don't hate me for saying this, jowo9, but I'm of a mind that red calipers work best when the caliper is polished smooth. If it were me, I'd go with flat black or silver/gray.

In full disclosure, my calipers are original equipment, and look like deformed hunks of clay. That being said, your painted calipers look far better than what I got going on. But I still wouldn't do what you did.

Better said, I wouldn't take macro photos of them. I'd just admire them from a distance.

 

+1, Had mine painted VHT Matte Black earlier this year, your red still looks nice though jowo9. I had red on my 3rd gen.

 

Thanks for the input/comments guys. I absolutely LOVE the red, and while polished calipers would be good in a perfect world, mine look brand new and IMO, very sexy. Black would also look good, but I wanted them to "pop". And Rochester, the macro pictures probably make them look bumpier than they actually look from 6+ feet away where everyone is going to be seeing them from. I just took those to show off how good the paint looks. I knew going into this project that not everyone would like the red, and while I can understand that, I really like it I couldn't be happier with it so far!

 

Oh, and the shadows on that pic of the rear caliper close up make it look far more bumpy than it normally looks...

 

looks great you're making me wanna do this as well. I like the red look, could you take a pic a little further back so we can seen more of the caliper with the whole car? Thanks!

 

Thanks! I'll try to get one tomorrow.

 

i had duplicolor and did red on my calipers. stayed on really good. 2 years later i thought it looked too ricer and bought the black duplicolor and the cleaning spray they provide ate off the red paint and made the repainting process so much cleaner. its a good product

 

Well said, jowo9. There's only one person you need to make happy with your mods. (No, it's not SoonerFan... )

Glad you're happy, man.

 

I have this paint sitting in my garage, glad to see the good results.

 

how long shud caliper paint last, n whts the best kind of paint to use

 

Please use black or silver only, and only for corrosion protection. Otherwise, it's just rice.

 

Wrong. Plenty of high end cars (and even some not so high end) come stock with red/yellow/blue/other color calipers (Corvette, Ferrari, even the Nissan GT-R and Dodge SRT vehicles just to name a few!). If I want to make my car faster/nice looking, I don't see why red calipers are so horrible. It's not like I'm painting the calipers on a '93 Civic or putting on LED washer nozzles. Red calipers might not be your preference, and you can do whatever the he!! you want to your own car, but keep the rice comments to yourself, especially if they're only your opinion.

 

While you are entitled to your own opinion in this matter, here's mine. There's a big difference between high-end cars with premimum calipers. The calipers are designed to be noticed as part of the overall performance package as well as function. The calipers on our cars are only designed to be functional, not to be noticed.

In other words painting your stock calipers any "noisy" color in my opinion, is ricey.

 

And all of those calipers are polished smooth before they're painted. It's not the color that's so much the point of dissension, it's the surface.

Honestly, I was kind of shocked to see you did this. So many of your mods were done with high attention to detail and good taste.

But like I said... if you're happy, you're done.

 

Haha you guys are ridiculous

 

Well, gotta have something to do during a slow day at work.

 

i agree... but then again i agree.. because i agree.
dont paint them!!!! just save your money and buy a used bbk. it really does look ricey. but yes if you like it go for it. that's not my 2cents... its my dollar fifty.

 

G2 paint in black or silver (anything else is rice on stock brakes on a 4 door family car)...
http://g2usa.com/index.shtml

you want it to be a visual mod? add caliper stickers...low key
http://www.xenonmods.com/newallcaliperdecals.htm

 

are we allowed to comment on the quality of the paint job?

 

Or black caliper covers, for that matter.

I know... I know... "caliper covers" is a concept that makes me cringe. But if all you want to do is hide the lumpy OEM junk for a clean look, you could do worse.

 

 

Oh, come on now. That was one of the rear ones done before I cleaned up the little specs etc that got on parts that weren't taped off. I even removed that picture, just because it doesn't do the look justice. Other than that, the paint job is actually quite nice. Thanks Sooner I was wondering when you'd chime in hehe

 

i didnt say it was bad

 

haha, true... I guess I just assumed...

 

you see what i did there...i got you to admit it

 

Yes, I suppose I have to say the obligatory "I see what you did there"...
and I admitted only that I had some specs that got on parts that weren't supposed to have paint on them. They have since been cleaned

 

Looks good but would of did black for the color of my ride!!

 

I agree red or any high contrast color or painting the hub is just plain ricey.

I will admit when i was younger I had red calipers and i loved it.

Then i grew up.

Any car that I paint the calipers on will either be black or silver. The only exception is my sentra on which i installed 4piston brembo calipers and I left them the factory bright orange.

I have went from trying to look like a fast car to having a fast car but making it look understated and flowing.

Clean is where its at, Accents and highlights should only be for something unquie on the car, not something that ordinary that you slapped some crazy paint on. that to me is rice

Thats my opinion at least.

 

the man is smart