Had my Duplicolor Caliper paints for a while now. I'm getting ready to paint them in a few weeks and would like to get some insight. What did some of you guys do when you painted yours. Did you remove the caliper or did you paint them while they are on the rotors. If the guys who removed their calipers, how much torque was needed to replace the calipers back. Thanks in advance.

 

Did mine w/ a foam brush, on the car with masking tape....

 

Brother-in-law and I did ours, and we took our damn time so we only had to do it once. You'll see a lot of write-ups of people taking 45 minutes - 1.5 hours per caliper. Although, I'm sure they're happy with their results, I SERIOUSLY recommend taking your time. We spent about 2-2.5 hours per caliper (cleaning/prep time included). Our results are amazing. This is basically how we did it:

1 - Jack up car, put it on stands, remove wheels.
2 - Prep car (we taped off the entire car with a combination of garbage bags and a car cover. No paint was visible.
3 - Remove the calipers, disassemble the pads/caliper bracket, and hang them on clothes hangers to reduce stress on the brake line (Don't disconnect from the brake line...no need).
4 - Prep the wheel well. make sure that everything is masked off and covered...also, don't forget to cover your garage floor. Overspray happens.
5 - Clean the hell out of your caliper assembly. We went through 12 cans of brake cleaner ($.99 a can at Autozone) between 2 cars. Use a brush and make sure that they're clean enough to eat off of them.
6 - Begin painting. We followed the directions on the Duplicolor can. 3 coats, 10 mins between coats, and let dry for 4 hours. Then we applied 2 coats of high-heat clear. The clear coat really sets off the red color. If you weren't considering clear, I recommend it.
7 - For best results, let everything dry for 24 hours. We let them dry for 3 hours on his car, and were somewhat disappointed. On mine, they dried for 24 hours and all calipers were plenty dry.
8 - After everything is dry, take fine grit (400-600, maybe even 800 grit) sandpaper, or (as we did) use a razorblade and carefully scrape the corvette letters on the front calipers. I don't advise using chapstick/lipstick on the letters before painting. We tried it on one caliper and ended up with a huge mess and had to repaint.
9 - Re-assemble, and enjoy...this is also a good time to change your pads/rotors if you're in need.

This is basically what we did. Your mileage may vary, but I advise leaving yourself plenty of time to do this. Taking your time will ensure you do it right. Buy plenty of brake cleaner and paint (we ended up using 3.5 cans per car, and 2 coats of clear...1 can for each car). I'll do my best to get some updated pictures as soon as I can so that you can see what ours looks like.

Enjoy the new look of your car! You'll gain at least 25 RWHP from the paint

 

Im pulled the wheels and did mine on the rotor. Just spend a lot of time masking the area!

 

I've done it both ways: on the rotor and off. Taking the caliper off the rotor is much easier. you don't spend a lengthy time trying to maske everything off. The rotors are held by two bolts on the back (you'll need a second wrench to hold the mounted nut or it will just spin - turn the bolt and you'll see it move to identify it). When the bolts are out just pull the caliper off and gently lay it across the front of the rotor, you may need to secure the caliper with some wire to take the load off the brake line, though I didn't. Use the included can of cleaner to get all the grease off the caliper and use a stiff bristled brush to get anything the cleaner couldn't get, let it dry. Drape some newspaper over the rotor first to protect it from paint. Paint the calipers. You may need extra brushes, I did. Start a second coat about 20 minutes after the first one with a goal of having three coats on within an hour; the paint dries fast. I used a razor blade to carefully remove the semi-cured paint from the face of the corvette logo, some people use a fine grit sandpaper after it has dried fully. Let the caliper sit for about 3 hours and then reassemble them. The calipers are torqued to 26 ft/lbs. I let my car sit for two days before I drove it to let the paint cure, though I think the instructions ony require one day.
I did this on a coupe I used to own and on my current GTO. The duplicolor kit works well; you won't see any brush strokes and the paint is glossy and lasts a long time.
Good Luck!

 

Yep! Me too!! Patience is not an option!!

 

Wow. You guys make a big job out of nothing. Did my front rotors this weekend using same duplicolor kit. Very easy. Pulled both front wheels, used can of cleaner, brushed w/ old toothbrush, then painted w/ supplied 1/2" brush. Why are you guys masking your entire car? You're hand brushing w/ a 1/2" brush.. Anyway, put about 3-4 coats on each caliper, remounted wheels, looks great! Very easy. Will do rear next weekend...I hope.

 

Thank you for all the responses and suggestons. In a few weeks I'll have red calipers , I got more time now since the kids are out of school but this month is out of the question. Will probably do it first maybe second week of July. One more question.Is one Duplicolor kit enough for all the calipers or would I need a second kit?

 

The people that masked off the car are spray painting the calipers, not brushing.

 

I also took my time, one wheel per day. Pulled the wheel, cleaned as per instructions, taped without removing calipers. In between coats I cleaned the wheels, waxed them, scrubbed the tires,wheel dressed them, cleaned the wheel wells and even dressed the brake line rubber. Only problem I had was the paint dried so fast I was continually cleaning the brush. Also forget about the brush that comes with the kit. Its to stiff and gets even worse when the brush starts to dry. I did the first wheel outside the garage because of the strong paint fumes. Wrong decision. Any wind and the drying time lessens, almost inhalf and I did it in 73 degree weather. Gave mine 4 coats, nice and glossy in red. Duplicolor kit. I wanted to do mine in mil yel but the yellow on the can looked the color of my wifes yellow new beatle bug.

Dolen
00 milyel vert

 

When I painted mine, my car was in the shop for the ring replacement (oil consumption), so I had the dealer just remove the calipers and I brought them home to paint. I really cleaned them up first (lots of brake cleaner and mild steel wool) and then applied the Folia Tec caliper paint. Having the calipers off the car made it very easy to do, but if you take your time and tape off things you don't want painted well, you can do them on the car. Good luck - the painted calipers are a very good appearance mod.

 

When i did mine i left the calipers in place used a small artists brush to paint them and was able to reach to the back of the caliper, not that you would see there anyway, i used silver in my case, and used black on the highlited 'Corvette' script with a fine pointed artist brush.

 

Just a couple "for what its worths" - the kit comes with enough paint to do several cars. 1 kit will give you plenty. The brush is pretty crappy. I got a 1/2" craft brush from Home Depot that seemd to be better. Another poster commented that the paint dries guickly. That is true. It is also "self-leveling", so there are no brush strokes. The hint here is to brush it on quickly and let it stand to level and dry. If you go back over it after it has sat for 15 minutes and started to dry, you will get a bumpy finish (as you are pulling the semi-dry paint out in clumps). The kit is about $15, and well worth it.

 

me too

 

i hope you see the pic..

 

me as well

 

Caliper bolts are torqued to 125 lbs & require a few dabs of Red Loctite on the threads. I discuss their removal and re-installation in this web page on changing rotors.

http://dana60.com/rickko/corvette/rotor-rr.html

..rickko..

 

Caliper Painting

Here's a little write-up I did when I did mine. Good luck!

 

Different strokes for different folks. I can't believe how many variable ways you can paint the calipers, I guess the only similar things that other forum members did is either they painted it bolted and unbloted. Otherwise, everybody is a little different with their techniques in painting the calipers. I willl probably most likey keep the front bolted and the rears unbolted, just because I can turn the front side to side to access the inner part of the calipers to paint and the rears unbolted well you know why. I'm just that **** to cover all possible surfaces of the calipers as possible. Thank you very much.

 

painted mine on the rotors with a brush, then replaced the rotors with these.