Detailing Calipers

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phantom

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What is the best method for making plain old (non painted) calipers look great but original?
 
phantom said:
What is the best method for making plain old (non painted) calipers look great but original?
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Have them powdered coated the colour of your car. Or just spray with high temp semi gloss black
 
Spray with a good degrease, and scrub like crazy. Painting them is always a good option. I am a sucker for red ones
 
For right now all I want to do is make them look great; not interested in painting/powder coating.
 
I've had good luck with using brake cleaner and degreaser. Also used a stiff bristle brush to scrub it down.

Depending on if the caliber is still assembled you may want to be careful with spraying brake cleaner around the brake caliper piston seal. I had my calipers completely disassembled in order to rebuild them so it was of no worry to me.

Ali
 
its hard to get them to look great with the basic metal look, especially without disassembling them. if youre going to take the time to do that though, then you might as well paint them. dont just use any old high temp spray paint though, look for ceramic paint designed for caliper use or else youll be redoing them shortly. take your time and do it right the first time!
 
Try a wire brush if you don't want to paint them.
 
I find Sonax Wheel Cleaner and a Daytona Brush is all thats needed.
 
jslym777 said:
its hard to get them to look great with the basic metal look, especially without disassembling them. if youre going to take the time to do that though, then you might as well paint them. dont just use any old high temp spray paint though, look for ceramic paint designed for caliper use or else youll be redoing them shortly. take your time and do it right the first time!
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:iagree:
 
De greaser is cheaper than the brake cleaner but brake cleaner self flashes.
Brake cleaner is perfectly safe for the seals...:xyxthumbs:
 
Like you I wanted to keep the natural look. My solution was to clean them with brake cleaner and then spray them with Dupli-color high temp ceramic (1200 degree) paint in aluminum. No trouble keeping them clean since. I used this method for the center of the rotors as well but black with the same results.
 
james_death said:
De greaser is cheaper than the brake cleaner but brake cleaner self flashes.
Brake cleaner is perfectly safe for the seals...:xyxthumbs:
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Tried brake cleaner, but it does nothing to clean brake dust off calipers and brake lines. I have not used a greaser yet largely due to the fact that it is acidic.
 
Just a plain degreaser ($5-10 or so for a gallon), a wire brush (harbor freight a pack of 6 is something like $2) and some elbow grease (FREE)

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The brake cleaner over here has cleaned the calipers fine and the de greaser i use is not acidic at all.... but understand many different products about..:xyxthumbs:

Ill keep my mouth shut.....:laughing:
 
GaDetailDoc said:
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Tried brake cleaner, but it does nothing to clean brake dust off calipers and brake lines. I have not used a greaser yet largely due to the fact that it is acidic.
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What degreaser are you using that is acid based? Use an APC like Meg's or Zep.
 
Rsurfer said:
What degreaser are you using that is acid based? Use an APC like Meg's or Zep.
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Purple Power mixed 50% with water. I do have Meg APC but did not know about proper mixing ratio. Brake dusting on truck front brakes are really tough to remove.
 
I don't know why I keep missing the caliper in the befores. I just did this wheel well today.
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citrus degreaser, wire brush, and about 3 minutes.
 
If you do eventually paint them yourself I suggest POR15. That stuff is amazingly strong. Just don't get it on your skin or it will stay on for a week or more. But any good degreaser works, and then wash it off really well.3 I usually use CRC Brakleen. If it wont come off with that chances are its not coming off.
 
MDetail said:
I don't know why I keep missing the caliper in the befores. I just did this wheel well today.
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citrus degreaser, wire brush, and about 3 minutes.
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Hey!!! Your wheel is missing did someone steal it? lol . Looks great!:dblthumb2:
 
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