Caliper paint..

I normally don't bother with bling stuff but I need to replace the calipers on my 05 Cobalt SS, there all 185000 miles on them the rears weep and the front everytime seem to have a sticky slide or 3....  For an extra $40 i figured I'd just buy the powder coated remains from PowerStop but there projecting a 4 month delay in shipping after i placed and order.  The vendor called and they said sorry best we can do and it might be longer...

So i have the rears on the way and canceled the front as i can't wait that long, I will get some Autozone remained fronts and paint them.  What works well theses days for anti-rust paint for calipers?  Can't powder coat as the rubber boots would melt right?  Well and i don't have a set up anyway.

WWGRMD?

You could always pop them apart and have them powdercoated locally. 

There's a brush on and spray on caliper paint available at the auto parts stores.  Specifically for high temp brake calipers.  That's what you want.  If I recall, the youngsters prefer one over the other, and I think it's the spray on, but google it up.

Ive used engine paint, caliper paint, por15, powedercoating, and krylon.

Skip krylon. 

Everything else has worked fantastically well with good prep.

If you're starting with remans, they'll probably be paintless.  Remans may or may not come with brackets. Degrease them good and mask the sliders and piston boots and hit them with VHT caliper paint.  If you're going black or silver, they'll look good and last a long time with minimal effort.  

I do paint vs powder.  I think you get similar results on a brake caliper.  If you do powder, pull the slider boots.  I think the piston and piston boot would probably be fine -- a brake caliper makes a good heatsink, and they're designed for high temps.  

I usually get SS braided lines made for high-mileage vehicles at the same time I do calipers.  The local industrial hose place will make exact fit brake lines with all of the OE-style brackets for $12-15 ea.

I've always used spray engine paint with great success. I even use engine paint on the calipers on my dirt track car, 3200 lb car with too much horsepower and stock 10" brakes w/ stock single piston caliper.  They get HOT, like glowing rotors hot, and I've never had the paint fail yet.  I've even used it for several years on my DD type cars and it holds up over time just fine.  Dupli Color stuff works OK, I've had the best luck with PlastiKote, and I also hear great things about the VHT engine paint although I've never used it myself. 

I used Rustoleum black brush on BBQ paint on my E28 calipers, that car sees lots of track time and it has held up fine with the heat but I don't know how the finish would do with lots of salt and water on a daily driver. That might not be the answer for you but the paint was cheap so it could be a good option for a challenge car.

Adam

I used engine paint, it's kept the rust at bay, and because it's matte black you can't see the brake dust!

I personally like a rusty patina on my remans.  $40 for a pre-painted set is no biggie, but the trouble to paint them myself is a whole other deal. 

This is what I used on my '09 Jetta about 9 years ago.  It has darkened slightly over the years but stands up to all the stupid stuff I do with it.  My friend Paul that owns the shop doesn't recall where he bought it so I got a shot of the manufacturer.

Found it. =~ )

POR makes caliper paint in limited colors. I've used the black on my tow rig. Its held up to high heat and road salt very well. 

I use rustoleum. Works well enough for a few years. 

You guys are gonna laugh at me - but please don't overthink this.

My favorite painting methods below:

No brake service procedure

• Put a drip pan under the caliper
• Dont take off anything but the wheel
• Brake clean the caliper
• Wire brush the caliper with a stiff wire brush
• Brake clean the caliper again
• Allow to air dry or blow off with compressed air
• Mask nothing
• Paint the center of the rotor black or gray
• Slide a piece of cardboard in between caliper and center of rotor to keep the rotor from getting color on it
• Paint 2 heavy coats of your favorite color.  I use whatever I have laying around, dont worry if you have two different shades LH to RH just make it match front to back.  Rustoleum and engine enamel are great, no need to spend money on the fancy stuff.
• Allow to dry
• Put wheels back on
• Laugh at the guys painting their calipers with a brush, all disassembled.

In combination with brake rotors, pads, or other service

• Completely assemble, bleed, etc.  
• Push pistons back into calipers completely (do whatever is necessary here)
• Reinstall calipers with a piece of newspaper between brake pads and rotor, wrapped around both front and back of rotor
• Paint following above method
• Once dry, remove newspaper
• Put wheels back on.
• Pump up brakes
• Laugh at the guys with disassembled calipers still trying to chase down the seal they tore.

In all seriousness, its not rocket surgery, its not a car will million dollar calipers (typically) and it isn't going to the moon.  Rattle cans and sloppy prep are just fine.  

I used four ounce cans of Rustoleum paint, the cheap stuff, with an inexpensive brush.  This was on my Miata, which i autocrossed and did HPDE.  About five years later, i had to touch them up, mainly due to chips from changing tires.  No need for high heat or caliper-specific paint.

I paint the calipers with whatever spray paint I have handy (as long as it's black) and it always seems to hold up fine. 

I have used the POR caliper paint (black)  and it has held up very well. A bit thick when brushing on but self levels to a nice gloss finish.

I've used the VHT caliper paint for years with great success. They make it in a lot of different colors and it holds up well. I have also used the POR15 brush-on paint and really liked it's durability, also available in a lot of colors.

But my favorite has actually been Dupli-Color Ceramic Engine Paint as it has a much higher temperature resistance and the ceramic helps the paint lay down so nice. The calipers on the Javelin were this. Dupli-Color also makes a brake caliper paint set, but I haven't personally tried it.

I've seemed to favor the "Cast Coat" or "Cast Iron" paints.  They have all worked well for me and I use this paint even on my race car calipers when I rebuild them.

I usually glass bead most parts that are either rusty (Iron or steel) or corroded (Alum.) Gray for steel and silver for Alum.

I don’t think I have ever painted a caliper. 

I've only painted calipers once and I used Testors enamel, like, for model cars. There are tons of colors available, and it held up great.

Por15 does indeed make a caliper paint.  Very expensive for a small bottle.  

Know what the first step is?  Paint with their regular black paint first. 

So I called them and confirmed that I’m supposed to paint it black with their somewhat expensive regular paint before painting them black with their expensive paint.  

So, if you’re going black, save the money and use their regular stuff!

Well I got the duplicolor kit and while waiting for the calipers to show up in the mail I got a e-mail from  JEG's saying even though I canceled the order and they had called the cancel it PowerStop had shipped the front calipers they said would not ship til March....

So on went the PowerStop calipers on all for corners with new drilled and slotted rotors an ceramic pads.  See my other post  (brake kit post) It's nice to have great brakes again.  As for the calipers the rears had NO lube in the sliders....  The left front was good the right front had rusty lube on the pins when i pulled'em out so had to clean out  and relube them.

So now i wait for the last re-man caliper to show up from advanced so i can return them as i don't needem now.

I have a can of Duplicolor brush-on caliper paint that is at least ten years old but I keep going back to it. Looks great when new but brake dust makes them dingy quickly and then I nick them when changing tires, so I find myself touching them up or putting another coat on three or four times a year (I have lots of free time). Last time I did it, I couldn't find a brush so I dabbed it on with my fingers. I need new hobbies.