Painting My Brake Calipers

[djkymar]

Spike,
how long it took you to do yours?

[Spike]

Spike,
how long it took you to do yours?

Start to finish 2 hours.

But that included putting it on my friends lift, taking off the wheels.
Giving a quick re-blacking of my UHaul hitch (10 mins at most including masking the rear)

Spraying the brake cleaner on all 4...

For the painting part.. I did 3 coats. I did not mask, because I used both the included 'acid brush' and an el'cheapo Testor's model paint brush to get closer into the edge betwee the caliper and the pad...

Coat 1 - The first coat looked scary. With the cast texture, the valleys were red, but the peaks were silvery black looking. Basically, it looked red and dirty.

By the time I had finished coat one on the 4th caliper ... the first one was ready to start number 2 .. (15 mins minimum between coats)
Dont over paint! It WILL run and drip!

Coat 2 - Looked a LOT better. I got to fill in some spots that didnt cover up as well. Smooth out some drips. The real color was finally showing up nicely.


Coat 3 - WOW... got even smoother, brighter, extra shiny!

The manual said there was enough for 3 coats
(I think it was more like enough for 5!)

Its been about 4 weeks now, and it still looks wet.

I let it dry up on the lift for about 5 hours... came back, mounted the wheels.. drove 2 miles back home, barely touching the brakes... and let it sit until the next night.

They tell you to let it cure for 24 hours before driving.

Oh, there is a 'best used by' date on the box. The claim the kit has a shelf life of 6 months. When I spoke to someone at their office, the told me as long as the small bottle of reactor is still fluid, the kit is still good. Which was a relief because I had the kit in my basement on a shelf for about a year.