i painted my calipers today, but was a little confused about some areas, if they should be painted or not.

I painted the main thick areas of the calipers...and wasn't sure if the center areas should be painted as well cuz it looked like it was part of the break pad.

Also...did you guys paint the metal part of the break pad as well?

This is the pic of the painted caliper:


This is a pic of the caliper and i outlined the area that i wasn't sure about if i should paint it or not(if its part of caliper or break pad):



Please let me know what i should paint if i missed anything.
thanks.

 

You can paint the whole thing. It won't hurt painting the back of the brake pad. I am not sure If my sig pic is good enough to tell?

 

i painted the whole thing too...no problems cause it's on the back of the pad.

 

seems like all of you guys painted the whole thing...after looking at it, it looks bad if its not painted all over because then the rusty parts still stick out. I will repaint mine.

Does anyone know if the part that i highlighted yellow in my pics is part of break pad or is it part of caliper?

thanks.

 

Geuss that means you have to paint the back of the break pads evertime you change them?

 

painting them before you mount them isn't that hard to do

 

I did mines too! The highlighted yellow in your pics are not
part of the caliber. It is the back of the brake pads.

 

awesome, so i'll just paint my new pads now...and im done.

thanks guys!

 

B-R-A-K-E





...I know, I know, spelling correctly is not worth the effort...

 

None of you get brake squeal from painting the back of the pads? It's always been a general rule not to paint the back of pads because of squeal

What you might want to do is match up for pads with your calipers. i.e. If you paint them red, use EBC red stuff.

 

I did mine the way you did as well. If you paint the whole thing, it looks like you were too lazy to do a proper job, which is the truth. The way you did it looks like the calipers are black, and not that you just sprayed the whole thing.

Leave them like they are, they look better.

 

I disagree, I painted only the caliper first time. Put my wheels back on and the rusty looking pad seemed more prominate. It seemed to me paint the whole thing or nothing. My wheels are easy to see through, (skinny spokes), that has a lot to do with it. There is not part of the caliper that really hides behind a spoke.
My friend just painted the calipers on his 98 Catrerra, his spokes are so wide that painting them was really a waste of time. You can hardly notice. He would not have had to paint the whole thing.
I would say it's not as important with stock wheels or any wheels that have little space between spokes.'
I don't know, I can really over analyze some damn caliper paint.

 

hmm, that's very true...but does the brakepad's metal housing get rusty looking? Does it through off the nice looking caliper? Do you happen to have a pic of yours?

 

Well, I think painting the entire thing looks...dare I say it...ricey!

If you don't want rust, put new shims on the back of your brake pads. Tada, nice black shims with no rust.

 

I replace the shim with a new one every time I change the brake pads, so they don't get rusty. (The shim the is metal plate that goes between the brake pad and the caliper.)

This is the only pics of mine that I could find:
http://www.ericj.org/maxima/img/97_G...2/IMAGE074.JPG
http://www.ericj.org/maxima/img/97_G...2/IMAGE055.JPG

This was after an accident...and the car was dirty so there's brake dust all over, but you get the idea. This was also my old car, which has since been sold to my mom, and she has the steel wheels on the car, so you can't really see the calipers.

My new car, the previous owner did the "entire brake spray" in silver. I don't like the color, nor the fact that he painted the shims as well. The shims are rusting (as they do when they get old) and the rust is coming through the paint, and it looks very bad.

Later this summer when I do a brake job, I'm going to paint the calipers black as you did (off the car is the only way to do it!) and replace the shims, seals, everything!

 

What do you guys do about the rusty portions of the brake rotor (basically everywhere the pads don't rub the rust off)? Mine really look awful.

 

Boy, no one has ever told me my Infiniti looks ricey, ouch! I mise well just get a 4 foot wing and and some stickers too. J/K.

good point. I change cars every 2 years or so and I have never had to replace my pads, kind of odd huh? I hate to admit it but I did not know you could just replace the shim. Good thinking. Might just do that, if I have to replace the pads on this car. I probably will, I doubt I can go forever getting lucky like I have with brake pads.

 

"Honey, the car is making squealing noises when I hit the brakes."

"Okay, dear, I'll trade it in this weekend!"

 

Don't get me wrong, I think your car looks good. Here's my point though: The idea of painting the calipers (a bright color at least) is to make them look like something their not. Upgraded calipers are typically some color (red and yellow are popular). However, by painting the shim, you totally "blow your cover".

Just a matter of taste I suppose.

What's even worse is when you see someone with rear drum brakes that are painted red or yellow, or blue, etc.

 

is the shim u're talking about that outlined yellow part in my pic???

 

Yes

 

I guess that does make me sound kind of stupid huh. Honestly it's not like that. I now recall replacing the front pads on my 94 probe years ago. But the last 4 cars I owned the pads never needed changin. Don't fault me for not needed new brakes. I have almost always owned 5-speeds, and engine brake alot of the time. There are some things I am just not posting anymore, I hate when I sound like that.

 

I painted the whole assembly and it looks great. no squealing nothing.Paint some bright colors like yellow or orange.Black just isn't noticable.

 

anyone every painted their calipers white? will it get dirty faster and look ugly? and what do you use to mask the unwanted areas?

 

I painted mine now there is now rust that drips down behind my wheels when i wash my car

 

I'm about to paint mine soon

 

I guess I was lazy....i sprayed them. It's funny though, I get a lot of compliments. I guess those people like rice!

 

I painted my calipers the last time I put new pads and hardware kits on. I don't have any pictures but I painted mine black. The new pads were shiny black on the back and the shims were stainless steel. They look great behind 17" Borbet Type E's on a Beige GLE with H&R's and 13% tint. I just wish the rotors were larger. Hmmm...

 

I painted my calipers, black in the center portion and flat silver on the outside. And then painted the shim and pad flat silver to contrast the black center portion. The look good, especially on my black max with 18" Black Opal rims. I got lots of compliments on it. But I took my calipers off when I painted them, painted them piece by piece. I also have had no squeaking from painting the shims or the back of the pads. Also painted the rotors black, got rid of that rust. Don't worry about getting a bit of paint on the rotor where the pad makes contact, the pad will create a perfect outline on it's first pass of braking. People love the way it looks. I'll try and get some pics up.

 

Pics!! want to see, want to see

 

funny pics indeed

 

I'm at work now, so hopefully after work I can get around to it if not then tomorrow. What funny pics?

 

 

what is better to paint calipers with the spray paint or the one you use with a brush ???

 

I used engine enamel spray paint, it withstands heat and stuff

 

I don't think of mine as tring to imitate a performance caliper, just a small cosmetic touch and also to call attention to the fact that the car has four wheel disk brakes. When I see a car with a painted drum I think 'you want to show off that your car has rear drum brakes' but each to his own.

I only painted the caliper, not the pad, I just thought it looked better that way. I used cheap high temp engine enamel and sprayed it into a container, then brushed it on.

 

I sprayed mine with caliper paint that I got at Pep Boys. 900*F. I think most engine paint is 600*F. I took the calipers off the car while I was replacing the pads and flushing the fluid so it was not too much extra work. I painted mine black and am glad I did. I really like the stealth look.

I cleaned the rest of the suspension parts (struts, beam, trailing arms, control arms, and steering knuckles) while I was waiting for the paint to dry and am planning to re-undercoat the rear wheel-wells to finish it off. This did take a little time but I doubt it added more than an hour. The car looks like new from almost any angle...

 

Here's a pic of one of my rears. I didn't clean them or anything, I got the use of a digital camera unexpectadly (sp?) --


If I had an aftermarket wheel with wide spaces the blue would probably be to much, but with the SE rims I like it.

 

My personal favorite are the "chrome" hubcaps with simulated cross-drilled rotors behind them. Sweet!