GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Aside from painting the calipers, does anyone know of a product to make the calipers appear one color? My front calipers have become miscolored from cleaning supplies in a non-uniform pattern and it's starting to look like (removed).

Same here. Those wheel cleaner chemicals seem to bleach or miscolor the caliper.I was also thinking of painting the calipers myself.*bump*
[Modified by NSimkins, 9:54 PM 8/24/2002]

The caliper isn't going to be the same after chemical discoloration without replacement or painting. There is no clear coat I am aware of that would hold up to the high temperatures.

After an entire summer of exposed calipers and rotors. I've done pretty well keeping them looking new. I have 18 inch "spoked" wheels and other than a little rust. They are just fine. Just regular soap and water is key when cleaning your wheels. But if you want to use something stronger. Belive it or not I use spray windex after coating the wheels with wax. I make sure that I spray into the wheels pointing the bottle down and a little bit away from the wheel getting as little moisture as possible on the braking equipment. Works just fine. Cuts through brake dust like butta!!!!

anyone know what it take to paint the caliper? what kind of paint? how you do it and so forth? any help would be great, mine is a camoflauge bluish green color now after using wheel cleaner

I've seen ads for caliper paint; one of the major name brands, but I can't recall which. Will keep an eye open and post the brand. I suppose any high temperature paint would do...

My rear brakes are rusting and it looks like sh**. They look worse than the front calibers. Need to do something about it once the weather warms up.

is it an easy project? whats all involved do you know?

removing tires and repainting/changing caliper inside

quote:removing tires and repainting/changing caliper insideso you take calipers off? how do you do that, hard or easy? forgive my iggnorance

Once the wheel is off, I think that there are only 2 bolts holding the caliper in the retainer. If you unbolt it, it will hang there by the brake line. You don't want that, so usually an old wire coathanger will be able to hold them up by resting the caliper over the long, straight part of the coathanger and hooking the hanger somewhere under the wheel well. With it hanging there, you could spray the caliper with the paint and let it hang to dry. Probably want to mask off the underside of the wheel well with some newspaper to avoid overspray. You'd probably want to pop the pads out of the caliper before spraying it also.

ok, thanks. i may try if i get the guts, not really a "car" guy

I always apinted my calipers/drums and i never removed them.I use either regular or spray paint. On my Vibe, I cut a grocerie brown paper bag to fit the caliper and avoid painting the disk and I spray paint on them.Usually, I paint them while I'm changing winter to summer tires.

That will certainly save a good bit of time doing it your way. I haven't taken a close look at the Vibe's brakes yet, so I wasn't sure if masking off areas was the best way to do this. Sometimes it is easier and takes less time just to remove the part to paint it rather than going and covering a lot of parts right around it. If the calipers are easy to mask off around, then that may be the easiest way to go. Drums should be very easy since there isn't much around them. With calipers, you don't want to go getting paint all over the rotors or the job will look sloppy.

Tomorrow I'll post pics of my painted calipers/drums

The Eastwood company makes special paint for your calipers, you can find it here: http://www.eastwoodco.com/aspfiles/search.asp

Yesterday I finally got around to cleaning my air filter and trim an inch off my CAI (Milwaukee Sawz-all ). While I had the wheel off I decided to paint the calipers, too. I couldn't take off the calibers 'cause I didn't have the right sized tools so I masked off the disk and the shiney parts of the brakes and started off spraying the paint (brake caliper paint from Walmart $4) into a can and brushing on the paint until I got enough coats on (like 5!). Then I sprayed on the paint to get an even shine. It took about 10 coats in all. I did get some paint on the top of the disk, but a little sandpaper will remove that. It turned out really nice! I'll have pic's by Monday.

Here we go with my pics

Attached files

I konw this caliper looks mat but I added more coat and now it shine.

Attached files

how long is the paint good for?

quote:how long is the paint good for?Usually, I paint them every year, when I put back my summer tires

Do they actually NEED painted that often or do you just do that to keep them looking their best?

Front calipers are not in the same material as the rear drums.So the drums seems to rust faster then the calipers.I paint them every year because I want them looking good and shunny. With the time, the sun and outdoor condition, the paint looses is brighness and become mat.Rears drums need a little more maintenance, cause it rust easier, but if you don't mind, it is not absulutly necessary to paint them every year or so.

they do look pretty good. so does the wheel cleaner afect the paint as it does the calipers? you know the greenish tarnish-stain like color

quote:they do look pretty good. so does the wheel cleaner afect the paint as it does the calipers? you know the greenish tarnish-stain like colorI don't know about the wheel cleaner. I use regular soap and water to clean the wheel, so it does not affect the color very much.

I believe that the calipers are some sort of cast aluminum alloy. Most wheel cleaners contain certain acids that are reacting with the caliper metals to discolor them. The stains may be permanent because the acids have actually etched the calipers. The drums are usually steel/steel alloy, so that is why they rust faster. If the wheel cleaner being used is not safe for painted/clearcoated wheels, it will probably harm the paint on the calipers. There are wheel cleaners out there that are safe for painted/clearcoated wheels, Eagle One makes one in its wheel cleaner line that says "All Wheel Cleaner" on the label. They say it is safe for all wheel types.

Had problems with hosting @ Yahoo. But here's my brake calipers painted red. I decided not to paint the rear brake drums caus they still look nice and black with no rust yet. I'm lucky enough to have access to a heated garage to wash the heck out of the car in the winter.

That looks sweet....I really have to paint my engine cover like that....