Whats the best way to paint drums and calipers if they are a little rusty? Is there any special paint i should use?

 

I would suggest using a hi-temp paint.....

They have brake caliper paint specifically......it's at the local auto store.....

Anyway, paint them a color you like, Don't paint them some crazy color that doesn't match anything.......I painted mine red and it was bad............I now have black brake drums and red calipers which looks much better IMO......

 

Take a wire wheel on a drill and clean all the rust flakes off of your drums/calipers before you paint them and the paint will stay on much longer, and look better.

 

and after you wire wheel them make sure to wipe them down with gasoliine or paint thinner/mineral spirits to get all of the rust dust off.

 

I was thinkin about this idea long time ago ..
For cars with factory wheels it wont show as much
as big 17Irocs that you can look inside ..
but its a great idea anyway..i have Formula wheels
and im thinkin that it will look cool if i paint the brake system
some matching color on a different tone.

 

I also have a Formula and I've painted my front calipers red. You can't see them as well through our wheels as Iroc rims or others, but when they are clean and when the paint is fresh on there, it looks great. For me, the calipers get very dirty with brake dust real quick, and lately, have just looked pretty much black, but this may be due to the fact that I buy the cheapest brake pads available, I dont know. Anyway, I'm gonna redo them as soon as I find the time. The paint stuck fine for me the first time, and all I did was clean the calipers with brake cleaner, but if I were to do it over, I'd take the whole caliper off, use a wire-wheel and get all the junk completely off first.
I recently swapped in a 4th gen rear with disc brakes but I dont know if I want to paint them red also or not, they look pretty nice the aluminum color that they are now. I'm thinking of just painting the front ones aluminum to match the rear ones, I dont know yet.
But ya, I would definitely use a wire wheel and then clean all the dust and what not off with gas or something before painting, it will help the paint stick, and it will just be a better overall job. If your gonna do it, do it right the first time so you dont HAVE to redo it, like me.
I dont have a pic of the front ones but here are the rears.

 

The "Eastwood" company sells some nice products for this application.... I believe there are many colors available.

 

If you can get them "Bead Blasted" and then do the regular spray painting done. I would also...... and I am serious about this...... oven bake them in your house at 200 degrees for an hour or two to cure the paint.

 

that or put'em back on real quick and do some 0-100-0 runs

 

Painted mine red with high temp engine paint!

 

hmmm, i dont know if i would want gloss black flavored chicken the next time mom cooks chicken dinner....

 

hmmm, does ur sis have a jiffy-bake oven?

 

hey DetailingDude about that bead blasting, i went to a sand blasting place because i want to strip the paint off of my stock camaro wheels ( they were red, turned to a nice barbie pink ) but the sandblasting guy told me to do this bead blasting place. I was wondering if you have had any experience beadblasting aluminum. I want to know how shiny it is when it comes out. Whats your opinion?

 

mine werent too rusty but i just wire brushed them down and took some sandpaper and then dusted them off.....then sprayed them up....

 

nice and not noticable.......went with black cuz i want the attention at my rims.......not at the red brake drums

 

Ya know, I don't actually have a bead blaster, but my neighbor does. I will ask him and let you know what he says. He has a 67 (I think) Impala he's restoring. Let you know as soon as I know.

 

I am on the phone with him right now.

He says that if you expect it to come out shiny like chrome it is not going to happen.

In order to get it shiny you'll have to have to do typical shining of aluminum. Then if you don't clear coat them they will turn dull.

What are you trying to get as your final result?

 

i just want something that looks decent, id doesn't have to be flashy or anything just O.K. What might it look like? Good enough if i clear coat it?

 

Anything??

 

I would suggest painting the drums black and the calipers the color of choice. Mainly because in my personal opinion I think it looks tacky to have bright red drums. It takes away from the car & the calipers, you want to see the discs no the drums lol.


Use duplicolor hi temp engine paint.

 

3.1RS


If you have them bead blasted, they will sort of have the apperance of a new/rebuilt altenator, sort of a matte color
like the center spokes on these rims.

Later
Tom

 

I have a red car, so I went with red drums and calipers. I have very open rims as you all know and they show big time. With them painted red it adds a nice contrast and shows how clean they are to the judges. Its all in what you like though. I think it looks cool when they are rolling. I saw someone drive by with painted drum and it looked sweet. I had the drums sand blasted (of course you have to mask off the holes to protect the brake surface. Then I cleaned them with metal prep and used a rust converter. I primed and originally I went with a high heat paint, but its really not nessessary. You can get regular automotive paint and clear. I have my front candy apple red right now. The drums are not repainted yet to candy apple they are still body color red. I am switching to a disk brake rear soon, so I did not see the point. It just need the posi and gears installed. WE waited because I decided to go with a 373 gear instead of the stcok 342 ratio.