Brake Calliper Paint

[David Ramsbotham]

The callipers on my 2000 C2 are standard black in colour but after 23 years and 61k miles they are looking faded and discoloured! They do, however, function perfectly so I am disinclined to be thinking about full refurbishment, especially when funds are wanted elsewhere.

Has any one painted their own or had them done? Not keen on the “on car” proposals I have seen from car detailers as it all looks amateurish and cheap finish.

Recommendations gratefully received.

 

[GMG]

...you can buy the gloss black caliper paint from BCS Automotive; two pack and do it yourself...

...you'll need a heat gun , decent brushes and a car polisher helps and new decals which BCS sell...

...you can get a really good finish without removing them which can be interesting if the brake lines are stuck...which they will be of course :nooo:

 

[David Ramsbotham]

Thank you GMG, I will certainly look at your suggestion as one of my Winter jobs here in North Devon!

 

[911munKy]

Another thumbs up for BCS, I painted my black calipers blue with their kit, the 300ml size has plenty of paint. I bought heat resistant decals off eBay as they are much cheaper and still look great after a year, you don’t need to use a top coat of clear lacquer either.

Jack up car and remove all the calipers but they can still remain connected to the brake lines if you suspend them with a cable tie. Drain some brake fluid from the master cylinder and push the pots into the Caliper and mask them off. Great finish even with a paintbrush if you follow the instructions and take your time, you’d be hard pushed to see the original colour.
Good opportunity to bleed your brakes as well.

 

[David Ramsbotham]

Thanks 911 munKy, what did you clean callipers with before painting?

 

[911munKy]

Brake cleaner spray and a really good rubdown with W&D paper to key in the surface, no need to remove the old paint just rough it up.
It’s all in the instructions. It doesn’t actually take that long although you need to wait a while in between the 2 coats of paint, I did it on a nice sunny day on my drive and left the car a few days before driving to ensure the paint had fully set.

 

[Wh1t3Kn1ght]

Just painted my 944 Turbo calipers which are also Brembo. Lacquer is peeling from my 996 calipers so will be trying to look at doing this on them in the Winter.

I stripped the old paint using some proper bodyshop paint stripper (you can find tins of this on ebay). Looks like wallpaper paste but make sure you wear plenty of PPE when using it in a well ventilated environment.

The calipers already had a rough finish so I didn't need to sand them, but as others have said worth doing this just to provide a key for the paint to stick to.

The old style calipers from the 944 were anodised black by Porsche and the simply clear coated (not painted). Not sure if that is the same process for the 996 calipers or not as haven't stripped mine yet.

I used VHT Brake Caliper Paint, Gloss Black and Clear Coat.







I baked them at 75C for a couple of hours in my food dehydrator and then fitted new seals which I got from Bigg Red. I also ended up having to get one 28mm piston as one of the bores had a tiny bit of aluminium corrosion on the lip which had damaged the piston.

I repaired some pitting in the aluminium under the slide plates with some JB Weld (don't knock it till you've tried it).

Preparation is key to all of this, I think I must have washed the calipers about 5 times before painting. Shout out to Adam at Uber9 where I got the stickers from, the only place I could find selling the correct font style for the older style Brembo brakes. Most seem to sell the more modern 996 / Boxster font which is thinner.

I used VHT Gloss Black caliper paint, left it to dry for 7 days and then applied the decals, followed by some VHT Gloss Clear caliper paint.