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I bought a set of Brakemotive rotors (i believe they're zinc plated??) a few months ago and they're doing fine performance wise but they're starting to look old. I used distilled vinegar to clean my wheels this weekend and I guess some of the spray got on my rotors. Now they're looking rusty-ish (but don't appear to be actually rusting). Did I f up? Is there any way to get them looking shiney again, like a new stainless set?
I Have revised my technique over the years. I now detail a single corner of my car in about 2 hours. I do not have to remove the rotor just the tire and wheel... there is a little prep... just having the tools. wire wheel, masking tape, high temp paint, a large trash bag.
The detail includes polishing my CCW wheel, cleaning the inner wheel well. cleaning the caliber, and detailing the rotor. Because I am old and not in great shape. in recent times I choose to do one corner in the morning.. rest a little and do the other corner on the same side after a few hours of rest. I would suggest not doing this 4 corner detail in one day... But when I was younger, it was a labor of love. removing the wheel and detailing it takes about 30 minutes, ( because I never let them get too bad ) cleaning the inner wheel well takes about ten minutes. Wire wheeling the rotor, slots and holes, takes about 10 minutes, masking and painting the rotor with High temp clear or aluminum including the inner vane area ) takes 20 minutes, covering the suspension with a large trash bag takes 5 minutes. IN total this process for all 4 corners takes about 8 hours, and last all year. Its a very small investment in time to maintain rotors that cost 1200 dollars, 14 years ago.
Rotors are cast iron, they rust easily.. they rust from the inside ( vane area ) out. so it is import to understand that the vane area needs to be cleansed painted and protected. The inside of any rotor is very rough and even a zinc coating does not easily adhere to such a rough surface, leaving cast iron vulnerable to rust.
Even in my old age and poor health, I could invest a leisurely 2 hours ( taking my time ) to detail a corner and stand back and feel as if the reward was worth the effort. After 14 years, I feel I could sell my Baer Eradispeed + 2... 2 piece...14 inch rotors for more than half of what I paid for them...even after putting 80,000 miles on them. At 1400 dollars New... my rotors , in the condition that I have maintained them could bring 6oo/ 700 dollars.
But you could do the same thing with Brake motive rotors or any other rotors, just as easily... I'm not sure Brake Motive rotors would look as good after 80,000 miles, but the technique to make them look as good as new, only requires understanding and time.
I bought some Baer Decelerators (Zinc coated) back in 2005 and they looked great for about 6 months (DD). One day I used Griot's Chrome Wheel Cleaner on my wheels and the overspray apparently removed and rotor coating that was left. They finally were rusting so bad that I just bought another set of the same rotors. Unfortunately the replacements did not have a very good coating job - the rears are still hanging in there, but the fronts are rust-buckets again (and I have not washed the wheels with anything this go 'round.
I bought zinc coated for the main reason of not rusting, but they still didn't look great after a few miles. So I buffed mine with metal polish and then cleared them with clear wheel spray. Now they still look good more than halfway through the summer.
Then there's the "extreme" method posted here in 2004 by none other than Evil-Twin himself:
"There are some tricks;
Here is what I do. Knowing that brake dust is a bit harsh and zinc is soft, and sooner or later the protection will fade.
once a year since two years ago, I have done this :
I only do two Rotors at a time, it is labor intensive. I remove the two front rotors, throughly clean them with brake cleaner, making sure I clean out the cooling vains, then blow them off.
I take a dremel tool and polish each hole with some 120 emery ( just a small square of emery 3/8ths sq. on a dremel arbor ) I polish each one to a mirror finish. IT takes about a minute to do one section of holes.
I made a tool from a paint stick which mimics the slot width and radius.
I use OO steel wool under the paint stick and rub it up and down the slot ( like trying to start a fire by rubbing a wooden stick ) the steel wool will remove any brake dust that is crusted into the slot and polish them. This all takes about a half hour. I then take a Q-tip and some 1500 F clear paint. I dab each hole with clear, allowing the clear to drip down inside the hole. I also do the slots. I let this dry and start the other rotor, after an hour or so working on rotor #2, I dab another coat of clear on the holes and the slots of rotor #1, after doing this to rotor #1 , I then do the second coat of rotor #2. It's now lunch time.. After an hour, I mask off the fire path ( where the pads contact the rotors. )
I then use steel wool on the outside edge of the rotors, and If you do not have two piece rotors with aluminum hats, you can steel wool your steel hats. then the last step is spraying the hats with clear 1500 F clear as well as the outside area vain area. let it dry for 30 minutes and apply a second coat. This should last the whole summer season. My rotors look like jewelry. "
I Have revised my technique over the years. I now detail a single corner of my car in about 2 hours. I do not have to remove the rotor just the tire and wheel... there is a little prep... just having the tools. wire wheel, masking tape, high temp paint, a large trash bag.
The detail includes polishing my CCW wheel, cleaning the inner wheel well. cleaning the caliber, and detailing the rotor. Because I am old and not in great shape. in recent times I choose to do one corner in the morning.. rest a little and do the other corner on the same side after a few hours of rest. I would suggest not doing this 4 corner detail in one day... But when I was younger, it was a labor of love. removing the wheel and detailing it takes about 30 minutes, ( because I never let them get too bad ) cleaning the inner wheel well takes about ten minutes. Wire wheeling the rotor, slots and holes, takes about 10 minutes, masking and painting the rotor with High temp clear or aluminum including the inner vane area ) takes 20 minutes, covering the suspension with a large trash bag takes 5 minutes. IN total this process for all 4 corners takes about 8 hours, and last all year. Its a very small investment in time to maintain rotors that cost 1200 dollars, 14 years ago.
Rotors are cast iron, they rust easily.. they rust from the inside ( vane area ) out. so it is import to understand that the vane area needs to be cleansed painted and protected. The inside of any rotor is very rough and even a zinc coating does not easily adhere to such a rough surface, leaving cast iron vulnerable to rust.
Even in my old age and poor health, I could invest a leisurely 2 hours ( taking my time ) to detail a corner and stand back and feel as if the reward was worth the effort. After 14 years, I feel I could sell my Baer Eradispeed + 2... 2 piece...14 inch rotors for more than half of what I paid for them...even after putting 80,000 miles on them. At 1400 dollars New... my rotors , in the condition that I have maintained them could bring 6oo/ 700 dollars.
But you could do the same thing with Brake motive rotors or any other rotors, just as easily... I'm not sure Brake Motive rotors would look as good after 80,000 miles, but the technique to make them look as good as new, only requires understanding and time.
I bought some Baer Decelerators (Zinc coated) back in 2005 and they looked great for about 6 months (DD). One day I used Griot's Chrome Wheel Cleaner on my wheels and the overspray apparently removed and rotor coating that was left. They finally were rusting so bad that I just bought another set of the same rotors. Unfortunately the replacements did not have a very good coating job - the rears are still hanging in there, but the fronts are rust-buckets again (and I have not washed the wheels with anything this go 'round.
All I know to do is paint them at this point.
I do hope you are kidding about painting the rotors.
I might not be fully understanding what is being coated, but if you coat the rotor surface with something isn't it jut going to come off the first time the brakes are applied and the brake pad makes contact with the rotor surface?
I might not be fully understanding what is being coated, but if you coat the rotor surface with something isn't it jut going to come off the first time the brakes are applied and the brake pad makes contact with the rotor surface?
I did not clear the braking surface, the zinc coating somewhat keeps that surface rust free to a degree. There is no way really to keep them from surface rust other than never letting them get wet. I painted the cooling fins with caliper paint.
If I wet my rotors, as good as they look, they will rust because they are cast iron. they will rust only where the pads contact the rotor. The rest of the rotor will always look good.
My car sees the rain, and the rotors pad path will rust. BUT>>>>> after a few stops, the pads will polish the rotor surface... Of course the trick is to use a soft pad that polishes the surface, leaving that look of polished steel. Soft pads stop much better, protect the rotor from warping and keep the level of heat to a minimum so as not to cause discoloration due to excessive heat build up. Hard pads, those that are ceramic require much more force to stop the car... you don't feel it because the brake booster does most of the work, BUT>>>>> your rotors can feel the excessive force required to stop the car because ceramics have a poor frictional coefficient. AS I always say.. everything is a trade off..... hard pads, less dust.. more force required to stop, more heat and potential to warp and more fade. Soft pads, more dust... less force and less heat.. no fade,
Ill take soft pads any day ... safer, cooler, and in a panic, a soft pad will stop quicker and with less chance to fade or rotor warp.
If I wet my rotors, as good as they look, they will rust because they are cast iron. they will rust only where the pads contact the rotor. The rest of the rotor will always look good.
My car sees the rain, and the rotors pad path will rust. BUT>>>>> after a few stops, the pads will polish the rotor surface... Of course the trick is to use a soft pad that polishes the surface, leaving that look of polished steel. Soft pads stop much better, protect the rotor from warping and keep the level of heat to a minimum so as not to cause discoloration due to excessive heat build up. Hard pads, those that are ceramic require much more force to stop the car... you don't feel it because the brake booster does most of the work, BUT>>>>> your rotors can feel the excessive force required to stop the car because ceramics have a poor frictional coefficient. AS I always say.. everything is a trade off..... hard pads, less dust.. more force required to stop, more heat and potential to warp and more fade. Soft pads, more dust... less force and less heat.. no fade,
Ill take soft pads any day ... safer, cooler, and in a panic, a soft pad will stop quicker and with less chance to fade or rotor warp.
I have been considering this issue on mine for a while. I have a guy locally that does powder coating and has stock in a powder that helps with heat dissipation. I have been considering having him do my rotors (and calipers at the same time) and then either let an old set of brake pads scrub off the powder coat in the contact area, or have someone turn the powder off.
I am skeptical that he can get powder on all of the inner surfaces, but it seems logical to me.
I have been considering this issue on mine for a while. I have a guy locally that does powder coating and has stock in a powder that helps with heat dissipation. I have been considering having him do my rotors (and calipers at the same time) and then either let an old set of brake pads scrub off the powder coat in the contact area, or have someone turn the powder off.
I am skeptical that he can get powder on all of the inner surfaces, but it seems logical to me.
Anyone ever try it?
it might hold too much heat ??? won't dissipate correctly ???
Would they clean up (and not be damaged) with walnut shell blasting?
ET's method is far too dedicated and time consuming for me. I don't spend that much effort cleaning the whole car. Too many other priorities. But my Baer Eradispeeds stay reasonably shiny, so no worries.
I truly admire/respect the time and attention that ET puts into keeping his car so clean. Those pics of his wheel well (and everything else in there) are quite impressive knowing that his car is no "garage queen". Props to you Bill...very, very nice!
07-25-2016, 05:48 PM
Any Way To Get Rotors Looking New Again?
