Need advice on brake rusting
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
From: Woodbridge Virginia
Need advice on brake rusting
I have a 02 FRC. I had my car in for service and my mechanic replaced my rotors since there wasn't enough runout left on the original rotors to resurface. I wished that he would have called me since I would have opted for an upgraded brake system (zinc coated too!) however he didn't. What is happening now is that the top hat area is rusting and frankly my wheels look like cr@p. My original rotors were black on the top hat and I just assumed that they came that way, now I know that they don't. What can I do to fix this problem? Any advice is appreciated, thanks....
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 753
Likes: 1
From: Oceanside CA
I have Brembo Drilled and slotted zinc washed rotors and they look like crap too. I am going to use some fine grit sandpaper and sand the hats slightly and use some 2000 degree header paint to cover up the horrible sight. I am going to paint them on the car, just take care to cover up everything so as to not get overspray everywhere. 
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 12,346
Likes: 5
From: Mustang OK
It's a common problem with the OEM rotor hats. Just paint them like many of us here do. I did mine not to long ago. I used a small (about the size of a toothbrush) wire brush on them first to clean off the bulk of the rust and scale. Next I put a catch pan underneath the rotors and washed them well with a parts brush and 100% mineral spirits. (Do this in a well ventilated area away from any open flames.) Then using a small paint brush, I brushed on Rust-Oleum High Temperature BBQ Black Paint. I found the small 1/2 pint cans of this at Walmart. The Rust-Oleum BBQ Black would look fine straight from the can, but you can mix a little of the Rust-Oleum High Temperature White with it if you desire. The white only comes in spray cans, but you can spay it in a clean can or jar to mix with the black. I mixed 9 parts of black to 1 part white and it was almost a perfect match for the original color of the rotor hats. By brushing it on, you don't need to go to the trouble of masking everything off like you would with spay paint. So far the paint on mine has held up well. Good luck with yours. 
Last edited by GrayC5; Jun 20, 2005 at 10:17 PM.
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 57,408
Likes: 164
From: queensbury ny
eradispeeds
i bought new zinc coated baer eradispeeds,and i painted the hats too!it looks good and should prevent rust,and your mechanic shouldn't, and in some states couldn't,do any work without your ok first!
Tech Contributor
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 41,057
Likes: 9,817
From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
Originally Posted by BLUC5
I have a 02 FRC. I had my car in for service and my mechanic replaced my rotors since there wasn't enough runout left on the original rotors to resurface. I wished that he would have called me since I would have opted for an upgraded brake system (zinc coated too!) however he didn't. What is happening now is that the top hat area is rusting and frankly my wheels look like cr@p. My original rotors were black on the top hat and I just assumed that they came that way, now I know that they don't. What can I do to fix this problem? Any advice is appreciated, thanks....
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 12,346
Likes: 5
From: Mustang OK
Originally Posted by Bill Dearborn
A few questions: Why did he decide to resurface the rotors? You shouldn't have that many miles on an 02 to require pad replacement unless you are tracking the car. GM doesn't recommend resurfacing the rotors on pad changes unless there is something wrong with the rotors. What rotors did he put on? The standard GM rotors are painted black in the hat area. The NAPA and the cheap AC/Delco rotors are not.
I believe you are correct. All the hats of the OEM rotors I've seen are black. I missed this in BluC5's original post. Although, the paint did start peeling followed by rust on our OEM rotor caps not long after we took delivery on our new then '03 vert.
Racer
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 401
Likes: 0
From: Ogden Utah
Unless you told him to do whatever is required to fix it, this surprises me. I had thought that they would contact the customer with and additional cost approvals before going ahead on repairs.
UT-Driven
UT-Driven
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
From: Woodbridge Virginia
Thanks to all that replied. My 02 has 16K miles on it. I have had a number of mods (intake, headers, x-pipe, B&B and CAM) done to my car by my mechanic and he has my tacit approval to repair items in need hence the brake repair. I had puchased the car with 14K miles on it a year ago and the brakes were so badly rusted then that they needed to be turned. It seems the previous owner may have abused the ride just a tad and then let it sit. In any event, I have looked at hat covers but only found red ones. One would think that there would be others and if anyone has a link to a site that sells other than red I would appreciate it. I will in the meantime look at painting them. Again, thanks for the help.
Racer
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 368
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta Georgia
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05
Originally Posted by SGT. PYLE
I have Brembo Drilled and slotted zinc washed rotors and they look like crap too. I am going to use some fine grit sandpaper and sand the hats slightly and use some 2000 degree header paint to cover up the horrible sight. I am going to paint them on the car, just take care to cover up everything so as to not get overspray everywhere.
