Painting rusty rotors

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Nov 26, 2004 | 07:28 PM

sdnet

Thread Starter

Le Mans Master

Joined: Aug 2004

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From: Sahuarita AZ

Painting rusty rotors

Hi all (again):

I bought my '99 used this year, and the previous owner didn't do a darn thing to it (in terms of the "extras"). One of those "extras" is painting the rotor.

Now, the rotor is pretty rusty. Is it possible to save the cost of a full rotor replacement and just bust that rust right off the rotors with a circular wire attachment to a drill? Will the rotor get too hot for the paint? Any suggestions for fixing this rust problem?

Thanks.

Nov 26, 2004 | 07:49 PM

Vetteman Jack

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You should be able to take the rust off with some steel wool, fine sandpaper, etc. and then you can paint it. There are many high temp paints out there that can be used. I painted my calipers with Folia Tec and I guess you could use that for the rotors also, but there are some cheaper alternatives. A decent auto parts store should have some paint you can use.

Nov 26, 2004 | 07:54 PM

Scratch

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Joined: May 2002

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From: Phoenix

St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'09

Chrome "hats" are also an alternative...but the painting is the fastest, least expensive way to go...unless you change rotors

Nov 26, 2004 | 08:07 PM

sdnet

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Le Mans Master

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From: Sahuarita AZ

Thanks guys for the feedback. I will try and sand the rust off with a wire brush and steel wool, then paint it up nice.

Nov 26, 2004 | 10:35 PM

CE2004

Burning Brakes

Joined: May 2004

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Be sure you don't get paint on the rotor surface, or your brake pads.

Nov 26, 2004 | 11:12 PM

GrayC5

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Joined: Nov 2003

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From: Mustang OK

I brushed on the Rust-Oleum High Heat paint in Bar-B-Q Black using a small brush. So far it has worked great. I found the half pint brush-on cans of the black at Wal-Mart. I used a small wire brush to clean the rust from the rotor caps then used a parts brush and 100% mineral spirits to clean them well. It's not necessary, but if you like you can mix in some of the High Heat white paint. However, the white only comes in spray cans. I found that 9 parts black to 1 part white is a very close match of the color of the rotor caps from the factory. I spayed the white into a clean jar then measured it and the black for mixing.

Rust-Oleum High Heat Paint

Hope this helps.

Nov 26, 2004 | 11:20 PM

IM QUIKR

Melting Slicks

Joined: Jan 2003

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Just a suggestion. Since the car probably has some miles on it, maybe consider some new rotors from Rockauto.com. Raybestos rotors for $20 each. You can paint them before installing. I'm doing this as we speak. I just painted the hats black and let them cure but unfortunately the snow came in sooner than I expected so it'll have to wait a little longer. Why bust your azz on old parts that could stand to be replaced anyway.

Nov 27, 2004 | 06:20 AM

Wildcat99

Drifting

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From: nicholasville kentucky

I got the chrome hats to cover up mine. The problem I had was after it rained or washed the car, with the rusty rotors just covered up, the water rusty colored water would drip down on my wheels and look awful. I took off the hats and painted the rotors and reinstalled the hats. Problem solved.Good luck!