Thoughts on painted calipers...

TH3M B0N3Z

TH3M B0N3Z

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Back when I had my 2007 Mazda3, I painted the brake calipers red and it looked really awesome. It just added a nice personal touch to the car and looked great behind the wheels. Now I've got my 2013 Scion tC in silver, the wheels are a gunmetal gray/charcoal gray color, so the calipers tend to hide in a way, which is good, because the wheels demand attention, lol.

I considered painting the calipers red... my girlfriend seems to think that will look too flashy on a silver car... I somewhat agree. Then I thought about painting them black... it'll clean up the overall appearance and add some protection. Just the other day, I spent about 7 to 8 hours detailing my car and as I was buffing some sealant away, my bright orange microfiber towel made a light bulb go off in my head (it kinda hurt, too :p), and I thought... maybe I should paint them ORANGE. Sounds like a bad idea, though. My tail lamps are red, so I think the orange will somewhat clash with the bright red tail lamps, whereas red paint will nicely coexist. However, the interior lighting in my car is orange, which of course, nobody will see but me. Then I go back to thinking I should just leave the calipers the way they are and forget it. I was always having to touch them up from rock chips (on the Mazda3) and I had painted them really well by hand. The paint was DupliColor brand, though, and I've heard some people say that's not the best. They held up alright, though.

So what are your thoughts on painted calipers? I don't paint them for that "ricer" look, but I'm always a sucker for painted calipers. It's a nice personal touch to any car almost.
 
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I'd generally say red or black would be nice. Orange is flashier than red. If you want to be suttle go black for contrast and bling do the red. Orange is out there IMO.

Duplicolor is good paint all you really need is hi-temp paint for durability.
 
rmagnus said:
:Picture:

I'd generally say red or black would be nice. Orange is flashier than red. If you want to be suttle go black for contrast and bling do the red. Orange is out there IMO.

Duplicolor is good paint all you really need is hi-temp paint for durability.
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I've been checking out the G2 caliper paint kit... seems to be highly recommended on every review I've ever read. I'm thinking red or black, too. Black is kinda tempting... but I can hardly resist red.

No pics. They're on my old hard drive and nothing has been transferred yet. I only have pics of the Mazda3 with red calipers, though.
 
I also did the Red Duplicolor kit for my GMC Sierra. With two coats on the calipers I still have enough left to do them a few more times. IMO the red gives somewhat the appearance of aftermarket calipers like Brembo or Wilwood you'd see on hotrods or factory muscle cars.

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I do like red calipers because of what RedXray mentioned. On the other hand, I've seen blue calipers on a silver auto. Looked good. Might be worth considering.
 
RedXray said:
I also did the Red Duplicolor kit for my GMC Sierra. With two coats on the calipers I still have enough left to do them a few more times. IMO the red gives somewhat the appearance of aftermarket calipers like Brembo or Wilwood you'd see on hotrods or factory muscle cars.

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Mmm, mmm, mmm... can't resist red calipers. Sexeh. :D
 
Chris's FX4 said:
Black or blue would look really good with silver IMO.
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I did consider blue, but blue isn't one of my favorite colors. Black or red will wind up being my colors of choice probably... or I just won't bother. It's pretty time consuming. Sometimes I want to spray them with rattle cans, but then there's over spray and tons of masking to do. The brush on method is more precise.
 
I painted mine red. I like it. Thought about the blue but I didn't think it would look right on a brake caliper. Jmo.
 
RedXray said:
I also did the Red Duplicolor kit for my GMC Sierra. With two coats on the calipers I still have enough left to do them a few more times. IMO the red gives somewhat the appearance of aftermarket calipers like Brembo or Wilwood you'd see on hotrods or factory muscle cars.

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wheelbarrelgmtc.jpg
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Very nice pretty close color match to the body as well.

TH3M B0N3Z go with red it will look nice on a silver car and grey wheels.
 
rmagnus said:
Very nice pretty close color match to the body as well.

TH3M B0N3Z go with red it will look nice on a silver car and grey wheels.
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If I ever do paint the calipers, I think I will go with the red. I'm gonna get the G2 caliper paint kit.
 
My Lightning is dark gray and I painted the calipers red. With dark gray paint and stock silver wheels, the red adds a little color. I like red, and maybe blue on the right color car (like on the ZR1's).
 
Red calipers give gunmetal wheels that extra pop. Sometimes darker wheels look kinda crappy if you're not looking closely. The red gives some contrast that brings out the detail in the wheel design.
 
IMO red calipers look great on any car, better to paint them than to buy those covers that look like a BBK that you see on alot of Mustangs out there, that's so tacky!
 
Klasse Act said:
IMO red calipers look great on any car, better to paint them than to buy those covers that look like a BBK that you see on alot of Mustangs out there, that's so tacky!
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I saw a Mustang at work with those Brembo caliper covers... I about LOL'd... lol! So tacky and ridiculous. I think I'll paint mine someday. I like the project aspect of it.
 
TH3M B0N3Z said:
What's the best way to prep the calipers besides brake cleaner?
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I pulled the caliper of the rotor and removed the pads. I didn't remove the caliper from the brake line so I used a bungee cord to take the pressure off the brake line.

I scrubbed the brake caliper with apc and wiped them dry. I then sprayed them with duplicolor paint prep and used light compressed air to dry them. I then taped off the

piston, brake line , rotor etc... I even taped off the wheel well. tape everything except the caliper. I sprayed it one more time with paint prep and dried. Then I used ceramic brake

caliper paint. Follow direction on can. Caution: Cover the rest of the car if you spray so you don't get over spray!! Learned that the hard way.

You can also use a brush to paint and cut down on the taping but I like the spray. Good luck
 
Anything other than matching the color of the car to the caliper, or plain black.. IMO, does not flow well
 
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