Brake Caliper Paint Job
 

Over the weekend I painted my brake calipers red using G2 brake caliper paint. The job wasn't difficult (even for someone like myself that isn't very mechanically savvy), but it is time consuming and a bit tedious.

I do not own jack stands, so unfortunately I had to do 2 wheels one day and 2 wheels on the next using a floor jack and some wheel chocks. Because of this, I had to purchase 2 kits because the paint is only good for 4-6 hours.

However, the product is very affordable ($40 on amazon) and of good quality. For those of you planning on doing this project yourselves, I would recommend a few things:

-Buy a quality paint brush (1" works well), the one provided is not good. You need one with resilient bristles because as the epoxy paint dries it gets really sticky and can pull out the bristles and make for an uneven finish

-Prepping is key; you only have 4-6 hrs to use the paint once it is mixed, so be sure to do all of your masking/taping before you mix the paint

-Follow the directions; very important to wait at least 15 minutes (I did 20), before applying a new coat. Also, give it the full 2 hours of drying before replacing your wheels, the paint at that point still feels a little sticky and can get messed up if you bump it with the wheel.

-Do at least 2 coats. After the first you will see tiny bubbles in some locations from the paint still reacting to the chemicals. A second coat will resolve that issue and the color becomes much more vibrant. I stopped at 2 coats, but I've read others that do 3.

Overall the finished product turned out great; the red is really vibrant, glossy, and evenly finished (pictures may not do it justice). I definitely recommend this product to others looking to add a nice color contrast to their wheels.

never used this exact product but Ive found that 'painting' holds up better. Last time I purchased the aerosol, sprayed it into a dish then painted it on with a brush and it soaked in much better and lasted quite a bit longer

:tup: Nice man! I love seeing simple DIYs that turn out looking good.

I recently bought some Akebonos from a junkyard and was looking at painting them with G2. I even bought the red, but was thinking maybe I should go a more unique color because 370z Brakes come as red. What choices were you looking at? Or were you set on red? With a Black car....you could do any color.

My car's blue.....I was thinking either RED, Yellow, or Blue.

I was pretty set on red to play off of the color of the tail lights since the rest of the car is all black.

If you go to their website, you can see they have 11 color options to choose from: G2 Brake Caliper Paint Systems: G2 Brake Caliper Paint System Set

I think yellow or red would look best on your blue car. The blue option could look funky if it's a different shade:

I did the paint job when my brakes only had 900 miles on them so I didn't need to worry about the cleaning process as much. Since you bought some from the junkyard, be sure to do your prep work and get them as clean as you can before you paint them.

Congrats on the diy :tup:

Amazon has actually been the most helpful. Customers have posted pics in their reviews. The purple color is actually a Fuschia color. Looks more PINK than Purple. But on my pretty blue....it might have worked....but I ended up ordering another batch of RED since I have the Sport Akebonos and want a nice heavy coat. I had spent 3 hours last weekend with a drill and wire wheel attachment. My stuff is stripped! I hope this come out good like yours. Thanks for the post man.

Sounds like a fun project, good luck Fman! Post photos when you finish. :tup:

some people indicated that you can just paint over the sport calipers with the G2 without sanding/grinding. Just cleaning is sufficient as the G2 stuffs stick really well.

Force of habit.......I always strip stuff down before I paint. I later read it bonds with the paint....so hopefully I didn't make it worse. :)

Perhaps it helps with some primer first.

I was thinking a primer would be good, but G2 doesn't offer any and I don't want to mix and match paint. I've heard a few people strip them and be fine. Either way....you should throw those pics on the g2 facebook fan page. Tons of good photos.

These use to be the gray calipers. Used the g2 paint and they came out great. VHT caliper cleaner, VHT clear and the G2 paint kit.

http://i.imgur.com/4O2eCZ8.jpg

Did you take the calipers off or paint over them? I'm looking to do the same.

Good job, your calipers turned out really nice looking. I'm going to order a G2 Kit today. Thanks for writing "Recommendation TIP's" on painting also.

Thanks Joe! You won't be disappointed. Message me if you have any questions.

http://www.the370z.com/members/fman0...7046-image.jpg

I'm finally knocking mine out. Can't wait to see them on the car.

Looks good so far! Post photos of the final product. :tup:

So...I know this has become the unofficial Brake Caliper Painting page. :)

So...I have a Red Infiniti....and since my red Calipers came out nice for my Blue Z, I'm painting my G37S a hybrid color. So I wanted G2 Yellow. But the yellow looks really bright. So I thought G2 Gold....but the gold looks too dull. So with my powers combined!!!.....I'm mixing both colors. That's right....I'm premixing both....then mixing the 2 into one. I'm not sure if I want to go all out and go 1+1=2. Or if I want to start with Say Gold....and Mix in the Yellow until desired. The Gold looks very flat compared to the Yellow....so maybe the gloss in the yellow will make it POP more. I like the 1+1 method because I can replicate if wanted/needed.....but why would I need?

So what do you guys think? I know G2 can customize paint for $99 per can (I need 2 =$200) or I can just do it myself and make my own custom color for $70.

If you are going to spend that much and do it yourself, I would just get them powder coated. But that is just my opinion!

I know what your saying......but I personally think the point of the DIY jobs is to A. Save money. And/or B. Work on/Contribute to your own car.

I sit behind a desk most of the day.....so I love doing this stuff. Plus I'm ready for a round 2 with the g2 product. I was thinking since I should have extra paint, I'd paint something else there as we'll like the shock or a control arm. See how those turn out.

I totally understand, if it is a labor of love then it's worth it, because it's not about the money!!! My opinion was simply based on time, cost and value and in your case time is not a factor so do it all yourself. Nothing ventured nothing gained...

Well said!.....I'll post pics in a few weeks and ya'll can decide if it's a path to follow.

Thankful for the search feature. This thread perfectly answered my question about available products to paint calipers.

honestly though, if u have the base brakes dont make them stand out.

I agree. I've seen a few "base BRAKE units" painted. And the paint worked fine & came out well. But it kinda looks "dorky" on base brakes. Better off going with caliper cover instead.

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