The work that goes into powdercoating calipers:
03-30-2008, 11:21 PM
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The work that goes into powdercoating calipers: Many people think it's easy well let me tell you, It's not. First of all, any set of calipers you get are not going to be clean, and for powdercoating, you must remove all rust and as much oxidation as you possibly can. Here are some pictures of a set of calipers I got from the junkyard for my car. Nothing wrong with 'em, perfectly functional, just nasty:
Here are some pictures of the disassembly and cleaning. I did all of this with a brass wire wheel on a drill. They also MUST be disassembled since they need to go into an oven at 400 degrees:
Once they're all clean you can powdercoat them whatever color you want. I chose to do mine red with matte black brackets. I went ahead and prepped and coated my spindles as well. I replaced my rotors while I was at it and coated them matte black as well.
Now I shouldn't ever have to worry about the hats or ends of my rotors rusting since they were coated while they were brand new. First time I hit the brakes, they should cut a perfect ring in the center of the rotors. I'll post more pics once they're installed!
Here are some pictures of the disassembly and cleaning. I did all of this with a brass wire wheel on a drill. They also MUST be disassembled since they need to go into an oven at 400 degrees:
Once they're all clean you can powdercoat them whatever color you want. I chose to do mine red with matte black brackets. I went ahead and prepped and coated my spindles as well. I replaced my rotors while I was at it and coated them matte black as well.
Now I shouldn't ever have to worry about the hats or ends of my rotors rusting since they were coated while they were brand new. First time I hit the brakes, they should cut a perfect ring in the center of the rotors. I'll post more pics once they're installed!
03-31-2008, 01:30 PM
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You cant run those rotors like that. I tape them off the best I can first. The rotors will then clean up where your tape made the powdercoat out of round on the bottom of the rotor.
Anyhow, when I powdercoat them I take it a step farther. I ground down all the rough casting so the powdercoat comes out smooth. I also prebake all the parts to get the contaminents out of the parts, otherwise you most likely will get bubbling as grease/grime etc. tries to come out the surface of the metal.
Anyhow, when I powdercoat them I take it a step farther. I ground down all the rough casting so the powdercoat comes out smooth. I also prebake all the parts to get the contaminents out of the parts, otherwise you most likely will get bubbling as grease/grime etc. tries to come out the surface of the metal.
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03-31-2008, 02:41 PM
#8
Sorry man...but I hope you have a nice big open area to test those. I would NEVER put anything on the braking surface of my rotors.... at the very least, Ide take that air tool with some scotch brite pads on it and try to get the powder coating off the rotor surface...
I taped mine off and spray bombed my rotors... still look great a year and a half later. Powdercoating them just doesnt seem worth it or safe. Atleast on the brake surface...
Your calipers and brackets and spindles look nice though! Grinding them smooth would have made them even better, but that would be A LOT of work. I wish I had the patience that you had just in cleaning the calipers. I got tired of that job after I did my brackets. So I painted those, and left the calipers crappy. haha. Im too impatient.
J.
I taped mine off and spray bombed my rotors... still look great a year and a half later. Powdercoating them just doesnt seem worth it or safe. Atleast on the brake surface...
Your calipers and brackets and spindles look nice though! Grinding them smooth would have made them even better, but that would be A LOT of work. I wish I had the patience that you had just in cleaning the calipers. I got tired of that job after I did my brackets. So I painted those, and left the calipers crappy. haha. Im too impatient.
J.
04-01-2008, 10:54 AM
#13
Ide be less worried about messing up the pads and more worried about whats going to stop him when the brakes dont....
Im not sure there is anything you could do to the rotor braking surface to give it a coating or color that wouldnt be unsafe. Or that would even stay for that matter.
J.
Im not sure there is anything you could do to the rotor braking surface to give it a coating or color that wouldnt be unsafe. Or that would even stay for that matter.
J.
04-01-2008, 11:36 AM
#14
The pads will take the powdercoat right off. Paint too if you go that route. And you would want to use a cheap set of pads to get the paint removed & then once your braking surface is cleaned swap in a good set of Hawk pads & your done.
You definetly don't wanna keep the pads on that you use to remove the paint from the rotors. It shouldn't take more than about 30 minutes driving/braking to remove all the paint.
You definetly don't wanna keep the pads on that you use to remove the paint from the rotors. It shouldn't take more than about 30 minutes driving/braking to remove all the paint.
06-20-2008, 06:45 PM
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***UPDATE***
I know it's been a while but the brakes have been on a while and the pads wore all the powdercoat off in just a few hard stops. They had no effect on the stopping power of the car at all while I burnt them off. Here are some pics. Now my hats won't rust and look like ****. I know it's not a huge upgrade but I know it's there. Here are the pics:
I know it's been a while but the brakes have been on a while and the pads wore all the powdercoat off in just a few hard stops. They had no effect on the stopping power of the car at all while I burnt them off. Here are some pics. Now my hats won't rust and look like ****. I know it's not a huge upgrade but I know it's there. Here are the pics:
