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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 03:41 PM
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Default Caliper Color question

I have a 2001 Black corvette, I am wanting to paint my calipers and trying to decide what color to go with.

My first thought was black, But then some have suggested red. I will be sticking with the stock calipers for the foreseeable future.

I have also had it be mentioned that i should polish them. I have stock Chrome wheels. So I'm not sure about getting the finish to stay on them if i do polish them. which will be the most work.

my thoughts were black with polished "corvette"

would red look better? or is it over done, everything has red calipers any more.

Thanks
Steve
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 03:56 PM
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Use the search function ... extensive threads on this topic.




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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 04:06 PM
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Mine is black also and the calipers still look good so Im not touching them yet, but I kind of like the oem look (sort of grey with lighter corvette letters) on a black car.

Not a big fan of the "make everything red" school. Matching the body color looks good (just an opinion) especialy on blue but oddly enough not on black or red...again...just an opinion.

From what Ive read you can paint them and then remove any over spray from the faces of the letters fairly easily with a razor blade across the tops.

Powder coating or chroming them is also an option, but obviously puts the car out of service longer and not sure how well that holds up to the heat.

As patches said, there are a ton of posts as it comes up a lot so you should be able to see every possible combination before you jump in.

Good luck
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 04:17 PM
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I'm a big fan of the red calipers - just goes good with about any color. However, silver with black letters would look good on a black car too.
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 04:20 PM
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i would say black with red corvette or red with black corvette depending on how subtle you want them.
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 04:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Vetteman Jack
I'm a big fan of the red calipers - just goes good with about any color. However, silver with black letters would look good on a black car too.
I think if my Vette were black, that's what I would do.
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 04:29 PM
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Painted mine black with Rustoleum Hi-Temp spray from Lowe's. Shied away from red as I didn't want to come across as a Z06 wannabe.

1. Removed wheel(s).
2. Washed everything in well that I could get to with soap and water.
3. Masked off from under the outboard pads.
4. Sprayed approx 3 coats - about 30 minutes apart.
5. Let set overnight
6. Razor bladed front "CORVETTE" bosses.

Been a year now...no problems at all.




Last edited by coolarrow; Jul 15, 2010 at 04:37 PM.
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 05:58 PM
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Originally Posted by ronssito
Use the search function ... extensive threads on this topic.
Thanks for your o so insightful post.

I am not looking for a how to, and a search pulls up tons of other BS that has nothing to do with calipers.

I will be pulling the wheels, and brakes ( to add SS barake lines and SS caliper pistons in the front anyway.) i've done a few different cars brake calipers.

My question is merely looking for opinions on color, and a few pictures maybe.
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 06:04 PM
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I've seen SILVER which I like but I have RED and it is at the top of my list

I would do: RED

Thanks,Matt
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 06:12 PM
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'and on the eighth day god said 'make all calipers RED'!

Not a fan of this trendy thing of painting them body color.
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 06:17 PM
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I had forum member CorvettePilot (Mike) do mine. I have at 3 X black C5. Decided to keep the theme and Mike powdercoated mine in a gloss black with titanium silver lettering. I added the chrome inserts to really set it off. Looks great IMHO.
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 07:26 PM
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The law in most of the lower 48 states is RED!
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 07:29 PM
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Red

Chuck
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 07:34 PM
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Not red!
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 07:57 PM
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Silver-hey the paint is cheap, try red on one side and something else on the other and see what you like better.

AND, Search is your FRIEND-many questions have been asked and answered dozens of times, no need to reinvent the wheel!!
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 08:09 PM
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I vote Red... Just something about Red calipers, over done or not, it looks Great!
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 08:17 PM
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depends on the car color. black car=red calipers.
i remember when i was a kid my dad pulled the hubcaps off our new pontiac catalina, painted the exposed edge of the rim red and put the hubcaps back on. that's old school stuff but it works today only now we have disc brakes.

oh btw, paint the caliper mounting bracket a natural color though. i don't remember who but somebody makes a color called "as cast". you get the idea.

and if you go to all this trouble, make sure the rotors look good too.

Last edited by dklowrider; Jul 15, 2010 at 08:19 PM.
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 08:20 PM
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Corvette Pilot (aka Mike The Powder Coater) can do them in Candy Red. Looks awesome in my opinion. Also, later you can to some cool underhood stuff in Mag Red II and it will match well and really set off the black.
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 08:30 PM
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Originally Posted by dklowrider

and if you go to all this trouble, make sure the rotors look good too.
I have the rotor had already painted and a pretty set of drilled/slotted rotors ready to go on.

I did a search on about 5 different terms and every time i got through Page 2 with no threads that matched. however this one comes up first. maybe i can solve the next guy's problem with black on black on black.

I too have an all black car. interior, windows and paint. just chrome wheels.
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Old Jul 15, 2010 | 08:45 PM
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You have a lot of options with a black car...
black: don't bother, no visual impact, not worth the trouble to do it.
silver: boring, stock look
chrome: too show car looking, not a very functional look for brakes
red: can't go wrong, most popular for a reason, it looks just about the best.
blue or even yellow: you can use either as an accent color in your interior
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