Entovetter

Sorry to bore you all with more caliper painting questions; I've spent hours looking over the existing threads, but still have questions on paint. My '98 is light carmine red, and I want to paint the calipers the same color. Many of you have already said that Rustoleum works fine on the calipers, since they (the calipers) don't normally get excessively hot in street driving. I found a good color in a metallic Rustoleum spray -- however, the directions said not to use it in applications that will exceed 200 degrees F. Do you think this paint would work (street driving & touring are all I do)?

What about painting them with touch-up paint that you can buy in 1-oz bottles from vendors like Corvette America, etc? This would be an exact match, but is regular exterior touch-up paint just absolutely too wimpy for use on calipers? At this point I don't want to remove the calipers and send them away to be powder coated.

Any input will be appreciated. Thanks!

STALION

Touch up paint is meant for just that and not to paint a whole caliper. Rustoleum will probably work, but may not be durable enough in the long run to deal with the heated brake dust. You can use a high temp paint which is more durable and will hold up better OR, some major chain stores such as pep boys, or maybe even walmart will carry paint specifically for calipers...you just have to look around. I don't think any of the colors you find will be an exact match BUT it should be close enough that it won't be noticeable.

JerG

I have a 99 Mag Red Coupe, almost the same color as yours. I spray painted my calipers Mag Red, they came out great. Here's what I did...

1a. Clean calipers with wire brush and sprayed with brake cleaner, let dry.

1b. Put some chapstick on the front caliper Corvette letters

2. Used (3) coats of spray can metal primer (light grey color Rustoleum)

3. Used (3) coats of color base coat spray can (your color from:automotivetouchup.com)

4. Scrap off the Corvette letters on front calipers with a straight razor...the chapstick
helps.

5. Used (3) coats of Clearcoat spray paint (from: automotivetouchup.com)

Make sure you do one wheel at a time and don't be in a hurry between coats. This paint
is not heat-rated but you don't need it. Strongly recommend using the primer, it makes a
big difference. Also, make sure to cover the car when you spray paint.

Also recommend you use a black engine spray paint (Ford semi gloss is nice) to do your
rotors (hubs & vanes), tape off most of the rotor surface but don't be neat around the
edges as any overspray will come off neatly as you brake during your first drive. You should do this first before painting the calipers.

P.S. My car is not a dd, I did the above about 2 years ago and they still look like new, no
chips, no flaking. For street and cruising, no problem.

On the other hand, my dd, which is parked outside, I used Duplicolor Red caliper paint
without a primer, or clearcoat, as instructed. I'm constantly touching this up, mostly
on the front calipers.

Entovetter

Thanks for your tips, everyone. Good info! I appreciate your supplying sources for the materials. Am anxious to do this!

1320b4you

I've never spray painted calibers and always use brush on paint. Rustoleum does work fine in either form though. Clean the caliber w/brake cleaner first and foremost as this step will allow any paint to stick the best. Use painters tape to mask off any areas you don't want to get paint on...especially overspray to the inner fenders or topside of the vehicle. Multiple coats are needed for an even finish. The chapstick is another approach but i use a dremel w/a grinding wheel to take the paint off the 'corvette' letters on the calibers..plus the grinding wheel gives the letters a nice polished gleam to them! Good luck.

Vetteman Jack

Another option is to buy a set of powdercoated calipers from Mike at thepowdercoater.com. He's a forum vendor and does excellent work - and I bet he can match your car's color perfectly.

leahy

not sure if car paint will work well on calipers due to the heat, but i recommend www.touchuppaintonline.com for paint if you do buy it. for me, i usually buy heat resistant paint from pep boys for calipers. i have used regular paint too from walmart and those will peel over time

jrose7004

I used VHT from AutoZone, it looks great and has been on there for 3 years.

RedSoxFan

I used the caliper spray paint. I thought it would be easier to do with the calipers off the car so bought a complete set from Corvette Recycling. I'm having them installed on Friday and then will be selling my old ones. After cleaning them with brake cleaner I first painted the Corvette lettering with hi-temp yellow paint. I masked off all the rubber components. I sprayed the black caliper paint right over the letters and then immediately (and carefully!) wiped the paint off with a rag dampened in paint thinner. I gave the calipers a couple of coats and then hit them with a coat of hi-temp clear.

renegad44

Real nice , first set I've seen black/yellow lettering.

RedSoxFan

Thank you, I appreciate that. I hope they look as nice on my car, I'm going with new chrome spyder wheels so the calipers probably won't be as visible as they are with thinspokes but I think it's going to look sharp!

muntzwagon

I'm still trying to decide what to do myself, I posted on here recently about same thing. For a non-mechanical guy like myself, it's either paint them without removing them from the rotor myself, pay someone to remove them for me, or bite the bullet and just buy a painted set. I saw a set in the Mid-America Motorworks catalog drilled-slotted rotors and painted OEM type calipers for $900 I think it was, seemed somewhat reasonable to me actually. Think I'm going to their big Corvette Funfest show Saturday so going to hopefully talk with some people there also.

El original

Lets make this short and sweet. I painted my calipers, very simple, first off make sure they are clean and dry. Next get paint and it does'nt have to be heat resistant, just a good quality spray paint(not touch up), now get a good paint brush (small, and thick bristles). You do not have to remove the wheels but paint thru the huge openings in stock rims to access calipers(move car to access completely). Shake then spray paint from rattle can into the can lid, dip brush into paint and start painting. You can easily avoid areas you do not want painted and paint over CORVETTE logo. Now let dry and if another coat is needed do it now. When dry take a very small piece of sand paper and gently sand away paint on logo in one direction, careful not to damage newly painted areas. Voila, a beautiful job, and heck you can do the rear ones the same way. I did mine 2 years ago and sometimes temped to wax 'em they look so good. LOL.

Carcass

I brush painted my calipers with cheap Home Depot paint about a year and a half ago,sort of thinking I'd need to redo them soon with something better.
After all this time they still look great.
After painting the calipers,I cleaned the tops of the letters off with lacquer thinner,and painted them with torch red touch up paint from Auto Zone,and they look s good as the day I painted them.
Apparently, calipers don't get that hot in street use.

For a track car,I'm sure something hi-temp should be used,but for the street,good ol' Krylon works just fine.