How To: Annodized Brake Calipers

[Elderain]

Home-Made: Anodized Brake Calipers.

http://www.elderain.com/pictures/anno-thumb.jpg
Just got done doing my brake calipers. I cant believe how awesome they look. I also just got my rims a few days ago and that really helped bring things out. Its easy to do , doesnt take long and it comes out looking great.

Also the good thing with this , you can do whatever you like. You can just clean them and get them back to a nice silver. Continue and make them an aluminum fleck look , or even move on to the full anodized look. Its also cheap and goes on very easy.

Where to get it & How much:
I was looking around for paint at Discount Auto Parts. Started looking at Plastikote paint cans for some Honda black paint. Found that , then found in the heat paint section. Anodizit paint by Plastikote. It had a single base aluminum coat and you could choose between blue or red top clear coat. So you get your base and clear cans.

Each can costs 3.99 , very cheap and the can is of adequate size. You can also find Plastikote ANODIZIT products at Pep Boys, Carquest, Advance Auto parts & Discount Auto Parts stores in your area.

I went with blue for the top clear coat. Then went home and got to work.

--

You first want to remove your wheel. Of course.

Then you want to get some sand paper. 200grit works well. And basically clean the surface of the caliper. I basically also smoothed a few of the main areas on the direct side. The area you will see most through the rim. The rest I let stay porous looking. The sanding might take 20-30 minutes per caliper , so get ready to get down and dirty. All depending on how much work you want to do. You can continue to smooth the caliper with higher grit sand paper. 500 should be good enough.

Next get the sand and dust off the caliper , a quick blow on it , pressured air.....or vaccum will work....Watch the eyes when blowing and do not breath it in....just blow , run and dont breath for a second , stuff goes everywhere. You should then have a nice clean and silver caliper.

Then you get a rag , get some alcohol soaked into it and clean the rest of the sand and grit off the caliper. This will prep and clean the surface of contaiminents and will also help the paint stick. Make sure that the word indentions have nothing in them and are clean , so they will still show through when painted.


Step1: Finished sanding and cleaning.
http://www.elderain.com/pictures/anno-1.jpg

Once your done with that , you should get a crappy towel and wrap it around your rotor. Its actually very easy. Just grab the middle , place that along the side , then wrap around. Make sure no rotor is showing and the caliper is fully showing.

Now your ready to spray. Make a very light first spray of the aluminum base coat. You should notice it looks a lot cleaner now. Another nice light coat , and possibly a third final coat and touch up any spots that you missed. Make sure to hit at a few angles and let dry in between each spraying.


Step 2: Base aluminum coat added.
http://www.elderain.com/pictures/anno-2.jpg

Now you simply get the blue , and make another light coat at first and let dry. You can choose how thick to go. It looks pretty good with 2 nice coats. Nothing thick or it gets real blue and deep looking , it will also sort of take away from the silver fleck. But still looks awesome so go with what you like. If you want a deep look , just add more coats.


Step 3: Final Coat applied
http://www.elderain.com/pictures/anno-3.jpg

This is by far the best stuff I have ever used on brake calipers. Its meant to withstand heat upto 500 degrees. So you can use this on other things , like valve covers and who knows what else you can think up. The shine and depth is awesome. Its cheap and easy.....I also hit a little spot on the front of my rotor in the center (looks like a bolt) that shows through with the rims I have. Ill have to show that later.


Step 4: Rims on and ready to go. Notice the center.
http://www.elderain.com/pictures/anno-4.jpg
Enjoy.



Info was taken from my old Honda Board, Superhonda.com. Credit goes to Mike_SHO :)

[Kahukah]

teh sexay, muchas gracias :)

[Elderain]

Yeah tommorow im going to see what colors my pep boys carries that in :)

[Esteban Toledo]

(thumb)

[twilightprotege]

i'm not flaming, i reckon they look good, but that aint anodizing. that's just painting the caliper. check out www.anodizing.org for some anodizing info.

later

[CruzinAltitude]

Ahhh, I think he might have ment giving his brakes an "anodized finish." Anyways, Looks damn good thats all I can say!!!!

[twilightprotege]

yeah it's certainly one of the better finishes i've seen, that's for sure

[PA_MP3_Man]

It looks awesome. I may just have to do that. So you only had to buy 2 cans then? One of the silver base and one of the blue finish? Will that be enough to do 4 calipers? How long did you leave them sit between coats like 20 mins or so. I'm just wondering how closely that blue would match my MP3 or If I'd be better off using the red. Hmmm. Well thanks for the great How to.

[Elderain]

Well the thread title of "How to: Fake paint job to look like your calipers are annodized" I dont think it would have been as nice :) I know its not real annodizing. And, i cant give you anymore info then what is posted, as you can see the last line in the post says its not my write up, but its a good idea so i poseted it, with credit where credit is due.

[Rider69]

I have used that paint on some items in the engine bay and plan on using it on some more. I had also planned on doing my calipers with it. I just have one question, do you, or anyone, think there is any harm in painting the rubber hose covering the guide pins, since it is a flexible, moving part. I wouldn't want it to dry out from the paint or look like crap from the paint flaking off.

The areas I am talking about is inside the red circles:
http://cflprotege.com/images/anno-3.jpg

[twilightprotege]

the paint will eventually flake off flexible parts like those

[t3ase]

Another reason why you should just brush it on. :D

[kidkorrupt]

pretty cool, lol i thought it was real annodizing.

it looks good though

[t3ase]

I *just* tried to put on some of the red version of this paint and it looked horrible. I did brush it on, though. I'm going to wait until it drys and sand it off then spray it I guess. It's like the red stuff was too watery and didn't stick at all to the silver base coat. Weird.

So, I'll take that last post back. Just tape off the rubber joint things somehow and hopefully it'll look better than brushing.

[ZackyFarms]

hey looks good. t3ase, maybe its cuz you tried to paint it on?

also, Elderain, you NEED to keep us updated on the wear of these. After you drive em around a bit, especially in the heat and all. Let us know if it fades or anything like that. im really intrested in doing it, good stuff man!

[ZackyFarms]

bump, any updates?

[rednecks_r_us]

I used the DUPONT METALCAST paint. I chose the blue anodized as the final.

I did this back in May or so and they haven't faded or chipped yet.
I also just used the blue on my lignuts over the chrome and it looks awesome if I do say so myself.

A can goes along way.

I bought one can of the silver base coat and two cans of the blue anodized.

I have painted all 4 calipers, 24 lugnuts, radiator cap, K&N intake brackets, oil cap, overflow tank bracket letters on my intake and my homemade battery tie down.

Click on the www button to see pictures.

It is almost a perfect match to my laser blue.

Later,
Bill

[INiTiAL33]

i've already had my calipers done in red paint already.... but now that i've seen this i wanna do the anodized blue also........ since my red is kinda chipping off anyways........

just one question.......... HOW DO I GET OFF THE FREKING RED PAINT?!

thanks guys.

[rednecks_r_us]

I have a little wire brush that goes into my drill.

I used it to scuff the calipers before painting.
I guess you could use something similar.

[INiTiAL33]

Originally posted by rednecks_r_us
I have a little wire brush that goes into my drill.

I used it to scuff the calipers before painting.
I guess you could use something similar.

i do not have access to that .......

so would it be fine if i used sandpaper to get the red paint off?


i dont know jacky about sandpaper...

so can anyone point out to me what grit sandpaper i would have to use to :

1) get the damn red paint off
2) prep the caliper for another painting

thanks,

[t3ase]

http://www.msprotege.com/vbb225/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31315

My annodized results

[PhreakV]

Initial...

Without being a sandpaper expert, I'm going to say that using sandpaper on the already painted calipers is going to suck. The rougher the paper the easier its going to be but you will still "clog" the paper too quickly. I would suggest borrowing a drill from somebody and running to RedNeckMart or a Home Depot and just buying a brush insert to use to get it off. Your choice and your bugdet but it shouldn't be that expensive and you will save a ton of time.

[INiTiAL33]

what if i just rought up the surface and apply the base coat and blue paint OVER the existing red?! WOuld that work?

[rednecks_r_us]

Give it a try.

Do you have any of the old paint left? Do a test. Paint an old piece of steel with the red paint and let it set up for a couple of days then scuff it and repaint it with the anodized base coat and top coat.

Home Depot, Sears, or Wal-Mart is always having a sale on cordless drills. Find one on sale and get a wire brush attachment.

This would be your best bet. Other wise you could remove the calipers and remove all rubber parts and use a paint remover
like TALL-STRIP II aircraft coating remover.

This stuff is nasty but works. I used it to remove the paint from my Harley fenders. Stripped them down to bare metal. (Well I got a new set of 6 gal fat bob flat side tanks so I have to paint them all to match.)

Back to topic. :)

Get yourself the drill and wire brush.

[ZackyFarms]

is it really hard to paint the calipers while theyre still on the car. It seems a couple people have done this but i took a decent look at mine today and it seems like theres quite a lot going on and that the paint would sorta get into the brakes n stuff, even if you taped everything off. the tape thing looks incredibly time consuming

[Minus]

i did this today. mine turned out very nice. it looks like i used the same paint from my car on my calipers

[p5sundevil]

so far from what I have seen the duplicolor anodized paint is the best. I have been using the blue with their ground coat for a while now and everything looks very very nice.

So far in the engine bay I have a bunch of caps done, the strut tower bar and the battery tie down. For everything except the radiator cap I used the ground coat....If it isnt bare metal you have to use the ground coat as it is what makes the metal look base for the color coat to work.

I am taking pics tomorrow of the tie abd battery bars so people can have a look.

The tie bar and radiator cap have been done for months now, the cap only got 2-3 coats of paint and they all still look very nice.

valve cover tomorrow and calipers this weekend when I do my eibach kit.

[INiTiAL33]

Originally posted by p5sundevil
If it isnt bare metal you have to use the ground coat as it is what makes the metal look base for the color coat to work.



So if my calipers are red now.. and i want to re-do them in the blue annodizing color.... can i just put a base coat on top of the red and do it like that?

[p5sundevil]

u should be able to, when i did my strut bar i sanded it with 400 grit but i didnt take the paint off, just scuffed it to a dull finish so the primer would stick better...I also used a tack rag before the primer/ground coat.

[t3ase]

Thought about painting my strut bar red. Dunno about that, though. I kinda like my silver & I dunno what color scheme I wanna go with for everything else.

[Bijou-MP5]

do I need to sand strut bar to paint them?

[Minus]

ill trade you t3ase, your silver for my yellow

[elias1974]

elderain,

Quick question, maybe someone else here could answer...
I noticed that the rims that you have with the polished lip and the grey spokes, are exactly the same ones that I was looking to get for my Mica Black p5, however I was dissappointed to find out that they were only 4 lug. My question is that how did you get those rims on your rotors, if you have 5 lug rotors on your P5?

Was there a rotor swap done, or some type of mod?

I would like to know since I have been longing those rims for a while,

BTW, there is a great deal on these wheels over at WheelMax (http://www.wheelmax.com/Specials/specials.html) paired up with tires...


http://www.wheelmax.com/Wheels/exel/shu-gm.gif

[t3ase]

Originally posted by Minus
ill trade you t3ase, your silver for my yellow
Errr.. Yellow over orange = not good.

[zcast]

how about my my stock Red for your silver!!! :D


z-cast

[mikeeeee]

i have a question so is there anything i must not get paint on except the rotor. can it get on the back of the brake pads and stuff?

[rktktpaul]

Hey, has anyone checked out the Eastwood Company's caliper paint? I have used their products in the past, and their stuff is really good. Just wondering if anyone has used this particular stuff.

http://www.eastwoodcompany.com/Department.asp?SKW=TSC6&Dep_Key1=spc&Cat=Specialty+Coatings&SubCat=Brake

[carbonkid]

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/caliper.html

[Crazy D]

Hey Guys I have a Silver P5 and I'm picking up the paint to do this some time this week... I just need a quick opinion...think fast...lol

Red or Silver ?

Thanks

[wildo]

Hey Guys I have a Silver P5 and I'm picking up the paint to do this some time this week... I just need a quick opinion...think fast...lol

Red or Silver ?

Thanks

black.... tight

[808MP5]

Ok this thread hasn't been bumped for a while... So long infact i can't seem to find any pictures of these anodized color callipers. And how long the paint actually lasts..

[mazdaspeed777]

Ok this thread hasn't been bumped for a while... So long infact i can't seem to find any pictures of these anodized color callipers. And how long the paint actually lasts..

Yah I just saw this thread for the first time and would like to see some pics

[808MP5]

I know ur bored. Must be to actually come across this thread.

[mazdaspeed777]

I know ur bored. Must be to actually come across this thread.

Pretty much. This would be cool to do though, you could anodize so many different things

[rednecks_r_us]

Ok this thread hasn't been bumped for a while... So long infact i can't seem to find any pictures of these anodized color callipers. And how long the paint actually lasts..

I'm going on 5 years having painted my calipers. They have very few chips.

http://www.theautolog.com/uploads/rednecks/4251/600px/2003-Mazda-Protege5-7064.jpg


http://www.theautolog.com/uploads/rednecks/4251/600px/2003-Mazda-Protege5-8743.jpg

[mazdaspeed777]

So is Annodizing basically just like painting something but with metal infused paint??

[StealthWyvern]

yes but with high temp paint

[rednecks_r_us]

I used the DUPONT METALCAST paint. I chose the blue anodized as the final.

I did this back in May or so and they haven't faded or chipped yet.
I also just used the blue on my lignuts over the chrome and it looks awesome if I do say so myself.

A can goes along way.

I bought one can of the silver base coat and two cans of the blue anodized.

I have painted all 4 calipers, 24 lugnuts, radiator cap, K&N intake brackets, oil cap, overflow tank bracket letters on my intake and my homemade battery tie down.


It is almost a perfect match to my laser blue.

Later,
Bill


Holy crap. I knew I painted my calipers around 5 years ago but I had forgotten it was May of 2003. So its been 5 and a half years with 140 thousand miles and my calipers still look good.

[Madmot]

I inspired myself from this tread and it gave that (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2932364020082908832vigwqW)
and that. (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2027518810082908832JnQRcr)

I wonder if it will last 5 years...

For those planning to paint their caliper, take them off. Don't paint them on the rotor. Take the opportunity to put some grease where it is badly needed. Those Protege5 brakes should be dismantle twice a year to get serviced (at least here in Canada...)