My calipers and rotors are ugly, I would like to paint the calipers and part of the rotor but not sure the best way about doing this. I really dont want to take it all apart to paint, rather just tape up around what I want to paint and do it that way but do you guys think this way wouldnt come out good? How should I go about painting this and what should I DO and NOT DO, I dont want to have problems with them after painting either, not sure if the paint can cause problems.....help

 

First off get paint that you can brush on-much easier; I helped my friend do it on his RSX a week or so ago and at first we dis-assembled the the caliper/bracket, but then we figured that it would be easier to keep everything on and jsut tape off the spots that you don't want the paint to get into. Main things you want to tape up are parts that WILL MOVE, mainly the rotor. Also, do not get paint on any of the clips or on the pads, or rubber boots covering the screws holding the caliper.

Summary: Use common sense and you will be alright! And as a side note, if you take your car to the track or push the brakes sometimes, then the paint will "trap" the heat in/on the caliper and slightly reduce braking power, but nothing drastic.

Good Luck
Dan

 

What he said, but ur not supposed to paint ur rotors.

 

Forgot to mention that one, I think he was talking about the "hat." Just a few days ago, I saw a black 5th gen at work with the hats painted blue with blue calipers.....It looked kind of stupid imo

 

Yo Killah, kinda glad you posted this. I'm in the process of doing my brakes as well. My front rotors were way warped, so I got some cross drilled and slotted front and rear rotors off ebay, along with new pads. Got em on last weekend, they look sick....but now that ugly unpainted caliper sticks out like an eye sore! Ordered up some 2 part epoxy caliper paint in red. Can't wait to paint em. I am planning to leave them on and just tape the rotor. We'll see how it turns out. I'm not gonna paint the rotor "hat" though.

On a side note, where can I get a set of those "NISSAN" letters to slap on the calipers when I'm done?

 

I took off each wheel one at a time, masked it off with newspaper, hit it with a few coats of DHT high temp black gloss spray a year ago and have excellent results.

 

Picts when you do it? Mine are looking pretty ugly as well.....

 

well if the "hat" is the part of the rotor that has the lug holes through it, then yes this is what I am talking about. All around that part is all rusted on my rotor and would like to possibly paint it. What kind of paint do you guys recommend to use? I know there is a special paint but before I search for one on my own I would like to get some suggestions from you experts!

 

I was considering the slotted and drilled rotors but someone told me that they make your brake pads wear faster because when they press againts the rotor, its like a cheese grater rubbing against the pads due to the slots and holes. Anyone care to jump in and give their feedback with this?

 

I would do the center of the rotors in a black gloss or silver? Any other color would take away from your soon to be painted calipers. Not too sure about the "cheese grating" effect of the cross drilled and slotted rotors that you speak of. Not getting much brake dust as of yet.

 

First of all this subject has been discuss in other threads numerous times. Ill give you a summary of the procedure I used to paint my stock calipers. After I did the calipers, I ended up buying 300zx brakes and painted those which look SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much better than stock brakes, in that they are larger and have NISSAN letters cast into the side.

1. First I sanded down the front part to make it smoother, but not too smooth so paint doesnt stick.
2. CLean everything with brake cleaner.
3. Then tape EVERYTHING u dont want painted; clips, rubber, the rotors etc.
4. I bought hi temp primer. Spray this on the area you want painted. Allow the primer time to cure and do a few coats.
5. I bought Duplicolor caliper brush on paint. I used a small piece of fine sponge to apply the thick paint. It made for smoother application. Put on a few coats of this.
6. You can purchase hi temp lettering. I just cant remember the website. Do a search for it in the archives. Apply the lettering.
7. Top it all off with hi temp clear coat. Many layers of this is needed. U can use 400 grit between coats if you want.

Here are pics of my stock calipers painted:



Here are pics of my 300zx brakes:

 

Paint on for sure, waaaaay easy to do.

Here's mine (painted almost a year ago with no problems)

 

I just got finished painting my "hats" on my crossed/drilled rotors. They look 100% better. I had some left over factory paint so I used that to paint them..... once it stops raining here I will post pics

 

Well I went ahead and snap some quick pics of the car in the garage....Will post better pics later....




and here is the newest pic of my rear lip molded in....

 

lol, I thought your calipers we're all rusted out for a second!! Car looks sweet!!

 

Hey Deus, calipers look sweet! How long did they take to paint after all those coats you mentioned??

 

Its a few hours of work. I used a blow dryer for some coats.

 

So there is no need to remove anything except for the wheel? Just mask everything off and paint?

 

Yep - just remove wheel and mask off and you are good to go.

Have fun with it - it's a good upgrade.

 

make sure calipers are clean then tape up around nalso some part of car so that you don't get overspray from mist , and last use high temp. paint 1200 degrees or more, I've done mine never had problem

 

I agree the more coats the better

 

Hey show me nice ride is that a stillen set up..

 

Well Fellas, I FINALLY got around to painting my calipers. What a PIA! Gettin in every little crevise and all. BUT, the end results are WELL worth the effort!

 

EXCELLENT JOB!!! Like the NISMO emblem

 

^^^^^^^^^Hey Thanks Chern.... coming from you, that means alot to me! Love your ride!

 

Thanks bro, I just call it like I see it. PEACE!!!

 

I bought the paint over two months ago but no time to paint it. I have a liquid silver os I chose silver paint. This is untill I get paid for all those weekend networking jobs....I am getting 6 piston Wilwoods. We just got a kit installed on my brothers car and not only does it look awesome it stop the car like a wall. I drive his car for half an hour, get into mine first stop sign and I **** in my pants "where da hell are my brakes"

Wilwoods are unbelievable

 

How much are the wilwoods?? I remember seeing a thread were "Kam" got em and installed them, but dont remember a price. Just the front kit I guess??

 

when you guys say clean with brake cleaner, what do you mean exactly? I have a spray can of brake cleaner, and it says to just spray on? My calipers have a lot of road salt or whatever discoloring it to an ugly dull gray, when I sprayed brake cleaner on during my last pad/rotor change, nothing happened.

 

Wilwoods=1500 for 4pot and 1850 for 6pot....there was a recent thread started by Kam stating that there is another BBK for the max. And it is from Willwood as well, but only the front calipers/pads/brackets/SS brake lines that'll run you 590 for 4pot and 850 i think for 6 pot. Just check out the thread for more info.

As for cleaning with brake cleaner, get an old toothbrush and spray the areas that need to be cleaned....mainly the place where the pads will be sliding back and forth in the caliper and spray it with brake cleaner and quickly start scrubbing away at it with the toothbrush. I say quickly because this stuff evaporates fast!

Good luck to both
Dan

 

My brother got the 6 piston Wilwoods for $1700 from Brian and FastBrakes. I am interested in that same kit. If what you're saying is true about a different wilwood set for less than a K then that would be great.

 

Any idea what the difference is between the kits? Bigger rotors maybe?

 

well there are 4 kits in total. 2 kits consist of all caliper hardware (calipers, pads, ss lines, brackets) and the more expensive kits include different brackets and two piece big (13.6") drilled and slotted rotors. The kit with rotors has huge rotors with alluminum hats. Awesome stuff.

Also I think the calipers are different in between the kits with rotors and without. Which ones are better, i think its safe to assume the ones that are meant for the big rotors.

To reitorate:

Willwood 6-Piston kits with 13.6 rotors - $1850
Willwood 4-Piston kits with 13.6 rotors - $1500
Willwood 6-Piston calipers (different than above, work with your stock rotors - $890
Willwood 6-Piston calipers (different than above, work with your stock rotors - $590

More info can be obtained by either contacting Brian at fastbrakes.com, contacting Kamski on this forum or simply by looking up previous Willwood BBK posts here at maxima.org.

Peace to all

 

Great Info..............

 

I beleive that having cross drilled and slotted rotors won't act like a cheese grater on your brake pads... the slots are meant to help hot gases escape, the cross drilling helps prevent cracking...

If you use performance brake pads to go along with the rotors, then there mayt be a bit more brake dust...

 

Drilled rotors are MORE prone to cracking than blanks. And drilled rotors are useless, not just in my opinion but by many! And many different car companies/brake companies as well. The drilled rotors are mainly for show. The slotted rotors are the only ones that some companies would actually use on their cars/brake kits. They expel the gases like you said while still maintaining more surface area that the drilled rotors do.

Daily driving=slotted<blanks>drilled
Track=blanks<slotted>drilled

I think quite a few people would agree with me on this.
Maybe not about having slotted rotors over blanks but definately slotted over drilled!

Dan

 

Yep slotted will eat your pads, drilled will not but you get less friction area for the pad, and blanks are well just that BLANKS.

I will tell you though that if you look at the last set of Skylines made, they all came with SLOTTED only rotors and Brembo Brakes.

Kamski