Calipers Are Done...thanks Guys

[GainesvilleAlero]

Refer to this thread http://invision.aleromod.com/index.php?showtopic=6911 or this thread http://invision.aleromod.com/index.php?showtopic=6949 for pictures.

any opinions are apprecitated of what color to use
on my calipers....i was thinking blue.

[Grouch]

good or bad?
your decision, most think it looks good.

should i do it?
your decision

my main question is....will it hurt the breaking performance?
no

if anyone has done this let me know!
a lot have, look around


moving off to the Appearance section.

[jackal2000]

it wont hurt braking performance at all and it looks good depending on which color you use. the only reason i havent done it yet is because i am lazy.

[GainesvilleAlero]

can i do it without taking the calipers off?
how do i "prep" the calipers before painting them?
is clear coating them very important?

[smokinAMD]

Originally posted by GainesvilleAlero@Oct 10 2004, 05:15 PM
can i do it without taking the calipers off?
how do i "prep" the calipers before painting them?
is clear coating them very important?
If you want, yes.
Clean them.
No, it's not, you can if you want.

[GainesvilleAlero]

what would you reccomend cleaning them with?
and do you think it will look like butt if i leave
them on while painting? has anyone done this before?

[Grouch]

How To:

http://www.n-body.net/tech/techdisplay.php?id=5

[GainesvilleAlero]

thanks man but that site wont load up.
does anyone have any experience with painted the calipers while connected?

[Grouch]

from that site:


Painting Brake Calipers

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parts Required

Brake Cleaner
Masking Tape
Newspaper
High-Temp Paint
Tools Required

Jack Stands
Jack
Torque Wrench
Wire Brush
Preface

Instructions

Park the car in an area with little wind (Garages are great), turn the wheel toward the side of the car you are going to paint first. Set the parking brake.

Loosen the wheel nuts on the rims on the side of the vehicle you are jacking (this will avoid doing damage to your transmission/axles once you have jacked the car up).

Jack up the vehicle. I found that (using the OEM jack) when you jack up the front of the car at the proper jack point, the entire side of the vehicle will lift off the ground (ie: both the driver's front and rear wheels will be airborne).

Remove the wheel (of course, you already loosened the wheel nuts, right?). The front caliper should be pointed toward you, making it easier to paint.

If there is any rust on the caliper, brush or sand it off as much as possible.

Take some brake cleaner and soak down the caliper body. Do NOT get the brake cleaner on the vehicle's paint - bad idea. You may wish to wipe any grease or other contaminants off the caliper body first.

Once the brake cleaner has dried fully, mask off all areas you don't want to paint, including the rotor surface, the "viewing hole" in the top of the caliper, etc. You want to avoid painting everything BUT the caliper body itself.

Mask off the entire wheel well to avoid paint overspray. Coat the caliper with several coats of the high temperature paint, waiting approx. 30 mins between coats.

Allow the calipers to fully dry before removing the masking and reinstalling the wheel - driving will cause any undried paint to spin onto the inside (or outside) of your wheel. Ensure that you remove all masking, especially the piece in the viewing hole of the caliper.

Reinstall the wheels, lower the vehicle, and torque the wheel nuts to 100 ft-lbs.

[GainesvilleAlero]

now i need some opinions on what color?
i made a new post

[Grouch]

red or silver

[GainesvilleAlero]

did you see my paint colors?

[GainesvilleAlero]

Refer to this thread http://invision.aleromod.com/index.php?showtopic=6911 or this thread http://invision.aleromod.com/index.php?showtopic=6949 for pictures.

what color do you guys think the calipers should be?
i was thinking blue.

[Eh_nigma]

I'd go with red personally. I have painted my cal's red (as well as visible parts of the rotor that are NOT touched by break pads). I've previously had them gloss black, a matching green to the body, and gold. I must say, the red looks the best. But again, it's my own taste.

All I can say, is try to find pictures of Alero's with the two different colours your thinking of and compare. Frankly though, with the colour of Alero (paint job), a silver colour would blend itself in and wouldn't really be noticed. Going with the red, it would accent the car nicely, as well as help to define the chrome rims and help to make them stand out.

Ej.

[GainesvilleAlero]

red huh?

i do want them to stand out for sure.
but i want them to try to match the color scheme.

but you think red would look good huh?

[GainesvilleAlero]

Refer to this thread http://invision.aleromod.com/index.php?showtopic=6911 or this thread http://invision.aleromod.com/index.php?showtopic=6949 for pictures.

[jackal2000]

plus if you go with red you would get the faux brembo look

[GainesvilleAlero]

WHAT IS "BREMBO" I ASSUME ITS GOOD.?

[Eh_nigma]

Oh, personally, yeah, I'd go with red. If you have silver, it's almost, well, going to blend right in. Picture your car driving (as all Alero's should be, right?). As the chrome rims spin, you'll see the red callipers without problem. They are small enough that they wont attract attention, but noticable enough that it'll give another nice little touch. When it comes to rims, rubber, size, and style, I think when done right, the callipers are the icing on the cake. Silver, or a chrome colour would have the same touch, but no where the effect a gloss red would.

But a word of experience, where it was previously posted I believe to ensure the callipers and areas to be painted are clean, MAKE SURE THEY ARE CLEAN. Especially the front wheels. And be ready to take even a tooth brush to get inbetween grooves. If left dirty, after a while the paint will both chip, and more dirt will collect there. The front tires for some odd reason always seem to be more dirty than the rear... if you do go for red, or colours such as gold, white, light blue, the dirt and grime becomes very easily seen.

Good luck though... I'm sure no matter which colour you pick, it'll look good. *Toss on a picture when it's done, I'm sure we'd all love to see it.*

Ej.

[GainesvilleAlero]

THANKS MAN
SHOULD I USE BRAKE CLEANER?

[jackal2000]

brembo (http://www.brembo.com/ENG/Cars/) is tops when it comes to brakes. notice the red caliper. its basically their signature.

[GainesvilleAlero]

I GUESS RED IT IS THEN.

[jackal2000]

Originally posted by Eh_nigma@Oct 10 2004, 09:05 PM
The front tires for some odd reason always seem to be more dirty than the rear
thats because the fronts work harder than the rears. the distribution of the braking is something like 70% to the front and 30% to the rear. thats why the calipers and rotors are bigger in the front.


yes i would use brake cleaner.

[GainesvilleAlero]

i painting them in place....how hard is this?

i just hope the red will look good on MY CAR.
cause i dont have a ferrari

[jackal2000]

if you end up not liking it, you can always paint over it

[Eh_nigma]

Painting them in place is the easiest way of doing it. Two things to keep in mind though:

1. Be sure to spray everything that you want... especially the inner side of the calipers where it's hard to get a good angle. But if you mask right, you wont have to worry about overspray hitting something like... say... the side of your car (another lesson learned by yours truly the hard way).

2. Don't use too much paint at once. Be PATIENT!!! If you spray too much, it'll just pool and run, and takes longer to dry... this is bad especially if the calipers are already painted, because the paint will crack. Spray thin coats, allow them to dry, and spray again. If you take your time it'll come out good. It's very simple really.

As well, maybe this should be number 3... if you get paint on the rotors, no worries, after a few miles of driving and using your breaks, the pads will just rub off the paint, and you really don't have much to worry about in the line of performance of breaks, there is very little to no effect... but don't go blasting the rotors on purpose... just slip some paper between the rotor and the break pads, and you'll be good to go.


The only advantages to removing the painted parts first, is it's easier to paint them, you'll be sure to get everything, and no risk of painting something not meant to be painted. However, the whole process of removing them is far from worth it... just ask anyone who's had to replace a caliper (except you would be doing it four times).

Ej.

[GainesvilleAlero]

while it is jacked up ..if i turned the steering wheel wouldnt that allow me to get both angles?

[Eh_nigma]

I'd say to leave it... when it's jacked up with the wheel off, there's lots of room. So there isn't a problem with getting in there... it's just being able to get the can in the back and spray it right. It's nothing to worry about, just to keep in mind.

I gotta say though, you've done a great job on your Alero so far.

Ej.

[Eh_nigma]

Good luck with the painting... if you smoke like me, keep the lighters away from the paint can if you want to keep those eyebrows right? (A lesson I don't think I will be learning the hard way).

Ej.

[GainesvilleAlero]

how did you clear you a/c knobs?

[FormulaNERD]

they're blue underneath, but i actually traded someone, cause he bought a wood dash kit, and thought the stock knobs would flow with the "classy" look

[GainesvilleAlero]

gotcha

[FormulaNERD]

i think you can just cut the rubber covers off, someone who has done this themselves can give a little more insight.

[GainesvilleAlero]

hmm alright not a big deal just wondering.

[alerosport.com]

heres my black alero, not two tone but black with the fake brembo look

http://www.adamrenie.com/users/ash/DSC07068.JPG

http://www.adamrenie.com/users/ash/DSC07080.JPG

http://www.adamrenie.com/users/ash/DSC07072.JPG

Movie of the fake brembos (http://www.adamrenie.com/users/ash/red.MPG)

I like them, i used a spray can red, black and a clear coat. I brushed it on though, left the brakes on the car. The gloss helped alot, makes them alot more glossy and more eye catching, Pimpalero03 has some really black glossy ones, that he did, looks very nice.


Pimpalero03's (http://invision.aleromod.com/index.php?showtopic=5175)

Peace

[Eh_nigma]

Very nice. Two Tone... something I think very few of us had considered. I take it that you took the calipers off... or was it just the black bracket you took off? It's got a great look to it: mind passing on how it was done?

[FormulaNERD]

you cant take that bracket off without taking off the caliper, but from what i understand he brushed the paint on

[Eh_nigma]

Yeah, when I had to change the break pads, I took off one of the calipers to replace it as well (nice run in with somethin' on the highway)... and with 4 wheel disc breaks, I couldn't see myself taking it all apart to paint them... but if he brushed them, it's a job well done from judging the pictures. Definately sparked some ideas when I saw that...

[FormulaNERD]

caliper removal is pretty simple... i change my rotors ~2 weeks ago... took maybe 2 hours, including the time to pound the rear rotors off... PITA

[GainesvilleAlero]

well i painted them red and the came out great.(in place w/creative masking tape and newpaper)
thanks guys

oh yea i took the black rubber off my hvac controls and the looked wicked at night!

[boarder211]

Mind if I ask how you got the shot of with the car in motion? Either some good camera mounts, hanging out of the side of the car, or a friend who really trusts your driving?

[Pimpalero03]

i would def. recommend what i used. u paint and u can do like 10 coats. and when clear coated i dont really clean them and they stay clean and shinny as hell.

[alerosport.com]

FormulaNERD is right i brushed mine, and they look really good.

The movie i went in a circle and used my digital camera chepo and hung my hand out i was 10mph or less.

Pimpalero03's looks hella nice in the pictures can only imagine what they look like in person, nice job Pimp

[FormulaNERD]

if you have a digital cam where the lcd flips 180, and you can close it with the lcd on the outside, you could record upside down and watch the lcd (if that makes sense?) and then flip the video while transferring to PC w/ some video editing software