Official Caliper Finishing pic thread... Polished mine whatcha think?

[INeedNewTires]

Okay so I got flamed for doing what I've been taught to do which is search and if i have further questions to ask. I received a bunch of neg rep's for "bumping an old ass thread" so here is my own new thread for you haters. Others post pics and share ideas/thoughts on caliper finishing

Started with painted calipers, hated it, looked crappy, chipping, etc. So i went at them with a brass wire wheel like i saw in another "old ass" thread.

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/P1000703.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/P1000704.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/P1000705.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/P1000707.jpg

Wasnt satisfied... the wire wheel really chewed up the aluminum (rear) calipers, so i decided to sandblast them. Found out what i thought were aluminum front calipers, turned out to be iron front, aluminum rear. I guess had i taken a closer look i'd have been able to figure that out.... anyway this is what they looked like


http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/Caliper005.jpg

So then i took the brass wheel to the fronts which polished them up nicely.

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/Caliper004.jpg

Didnt want to touch the rears with the wire wheel again so i went ahead and tried to polish them on the cotton buffing wheel. Didnt do shit. So i took an aluminum die-grinder disk and went to town, smoothing out the 'sandyness' and making them nice and smooth. Finished them up with the cotton buffer and white compound. They turned out AWESOME.

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/Caliper001.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/Caliper003.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/Caliper002.jpg

And polished vs sandblasted on aluminum

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/Caliper006.jpg

So just finished installing em, they look sweet with the zinc plated rotors. ive got a bit of touchup to do with the Nissan letters. Other than that, just used some high temp (500 deg) clear coat for the fronts so they wont rust, rears should be fine. Finished product:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/2007-12-19016.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/2007-12-19017.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/2007-12-19019.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/2007-12-19018.jpg


So use this thread to post other peoples pics and methods on painting, polishing, sandblasting, powdercoating, etc. And let me know what you guys think!

[arkive43]

looks great man!!

[240sxScores]

Looks pretty good man. Great job.

[S13FREEAAK]

Those look good. I like them alot more than your average painted black or red ones.

I may have to polish my calipers for the bimmer after seeing this.

[wonkuuzenki]

Very nice.
I wonder if anyone has painted caliper whilst also adding ridiculous amounts of flake/sparkle??

I'm betting it would look awesome if you kept them clean.

[SW20Racer]

you can powdercoat w/sparkle. consider that route.

[projectRDM]

Question, why didn't you completely remove all the paint from the lettering? The 'I' on the rear caliper for example. Leaving it only partially done looks like shit.

[wonkuuzenki]

Right. that's what i was thinking..

[didderson]

They look great. So baller with the rest of your silvery colored rims and rotors!

[INeedNewTires]

Question, why didn't you completely remove all the paint from the lettering? The 'I' on the rear caliper for example. Leaving it only partially done looks like shit.

i realize it needs a bit of touchup, (you obviously didnt read my comments in-between the pics) However, i removed all of the paint, polished them, then painted the letters back on. But when i was installing them i fucked the 'I' up a lil bit, i'll just go over it with my paint pen later, no biggie. i'm planning on doing the fronts too

[P_856]

looks nice so how long did it take you

[sbanzer123]

id clear the rears to so the polish wont get dull.

[posdriftin]

looks nice ... i think im gonna borrow your idea for my fronts....

[INeedNewTires]

id clear the rears to so the polish wont get dull.

yea i was wondering about that, didnt want the clear to make them look yellow but the aluminum will surely tarnish eventually right? anyone have any experience with this? about how long would it take?

thanks for the props guys lets get some rep points get me outta the hole!

[WERDdabuilder]

im about to do mine black with glitter =D.

should make em more of a smooth bling.

[SW20Racer]

a diy powdercoat set up is cheapy cheap and it pays for itself after 3 or so friends want their shit done too. and it comes in handy for other stuff too. just a thought...example, i have an uncle who sandblasts for a living(automotive, tombstones, ANYTHING) and he picked up some basic powder coating supplies for his automotive endeavors. word got out and in 3 months he was powder coating crazy shit for the military. just think about that applying to you, but on a smaller scale.

[INeedNewTires]

looks nice so how long did it take you

sandblasting about an hour including prep, wire wheel polishing was like 10 min, super easy on the iron calipers. The die grinding on the aluminum was real quick on the sandblasted one, but on the one i chewed up with the wire wheel it took a while. then polishing them is easy, they turn all black though so gotta spray em down with brake cleaner, then painting the letters and clear is more wait time than "do" time. Id say all in all about 3 to 3.5 hrs all said and done

[status:one]

I bet that was a bitch... they turned out nice though, great job!. Now just fix the nissan logo... I think the "I" went for a walk. ;)

[RedStage]

nice job ;) so tempted...but I'd hate to have to pull the calipers when there is no reason to at this time. Will keep this subscribed to for the possibility of some day trying this myself.

Oh...can you take some pics with the whole car in there so we can see the over-all effect? thxs

[The Chad]

Very nice job! I contemplated pollishing mine as well but got only as far as grinding of the excess lettering and smoothing out the chipped fins on the calipers. Then i painted them high temp "canary" (i'm obnoxioxious like that :) ) yellow and pollished the Nissan lettering (mirror finish) after baking them in my oven for a few hours to set-up the paint. I highly recomend pollishing the "NISSAN" on all painted calipers, really looks a lot better than the ridged factory style, and a nice "cop out" for those who don't have the patience to polish the entire calliper.
--I'm at work right now but i'll post up some pics when i get home of mine.

[DOOK]

I can't wait until Rican_Nick gets his brembos and rear Z32s done... shaved and polished.... they are gonna be yummy

[status:one]

I can't wait until Rican_Nick gets his brembos and rear Z32s done... shaved and polished.... they are gonna be yummy

My brother polished his brembos on his G35c. They look awesome.

[rican_nick]

whoa whoa whoa.. damn DOOK.. to much intel..


hahahahahahaha

cats out the bag.. here is a pic of stock/shaved/sanded rear z32 caliper.

since this pic was taken they are now all taken apart and the front halfs are in the first stage of final polish. The rears i am finishing up the 800grit sanding > 1000> steel wool.. then polish.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/rican240sx/IMG_1803.jpg

[azndummie]

looking \good man

[dorkidori_s13]

those are hot...good work on em

nice change to the whole "painted" look

[nani]

are you guys gonna spray some clear coat or some kind of protective coat on the caliper?

[rican_nick]

are you guys gonna spray some clear coat or some kind of protective coat on the caliper?


not sure bout the OP. But mine will be powder coated clear.. cuz fuck if i am going to be polishing these again.. haha

[eds13]

now one of the times i wish i had alumium z brakes....

[Subzeroqc]

Wow those look amazing, might be enough to motivate my lazy ass to take mine powder coated ones apart and try this. I might give it a try on old S14 calipers I have laying around first.

Thanks for the write up!

[garagelu]

Wow those look amazing, might be enough to motivate my lazy ass to take mine powder coated ones apart and try this. I might give it a try on old S14 calipers I have laying around first.

Thanks for the write up!

S14 calipers are iron, not aluminum so it not possible to polish it.

[Subzeroqc]

Oh right! Thanks for the heads up, guess I would've failed big time. Any recommendations on practicing before screwing up brand new calipers?

[Prok0]

Mine are shaved and sort of half polished... I gotta go back and finish them up when im not lazy.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Prok0/IMG_2233.jpg

[CusCo_S14]

here is a pic of my z32 brakes
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x270/CusCo_S14/Dan094.jpg:yum::yum::yum::yum:

[INeedNewTires]

S14 calipers are iron, not aluminum so it not possible to polish it.

dude READ THE WORDS IN MY POST. (i hate it when people just look at the pics and start typing) My front calipers (Z32) are IRON, and they came out like that with some TLC, it is possible and looks damn good.... more pics of the whole car and the fixed "I" today

CusCo S14 those look sick, any more shots zoomed out a bit?

[Kuzumi]

i just painted mine black, i might do polished if i find some good z32 rears :)

[CusCo_S14]

CusCo S14 those look sick, any more shots zoomed out a bit?


thanks, i got them powdercoated candy blue to match the suspension. ill try to take pics later today.

[BustedS13]

op:DAMN
those look SICK! +rep!

i think i'm going to paint mine in the color scheme of the z33 brembos. gold with red lettering... maybe black lettering.

[wonkuuzenki]

Whoever negative repped me here for wanting to add sparkles onto the caliper and telling me to stop with the "Fad" needs to grow up.
I've been into drifting since 1999 and have yet to see flake/sparkle caliper paint on ANY car. Was just wondering if has been done by someone unbeknown to me.
The Negative Rep given out on this forum is getting ridiculous.

[INeedNewTires]

i think i'm going to paint mine in the color scheme of the z33 brembos. gold with red lettering... maybe black lettering.
[/SIZE]
[/SIZE]

i thought about that too but nobody that i found had the same color powder coat, their golds are all yellow, flat and bland, not like the reddish tone w/ sparkle like Brembo. I work at an Infiniti dealer and i found out that those things are painted, not PC and they do have a temp indicator.... see pic below, this dude had to have gone to a track, over heated them (at least for manufacturer warranty) and therefore they are no longer under warranty. I bet they work fine but i have no idea. Interesting though

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/burntbrembos1.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/bbs2.jpg

[INeedNewTires]

nice job ;) so tempted...but I'd hate to have to pull the calipers when there is no reason to at this time.

Dude the wire wheel i used was 3", you could even get a 2" and do it on the car, just turn the steering wheel and go to town. Wouldnt even have to bleed! just stay away from the lines and bleeder valve and you should be fine, esp if their iron, the brass wheel just polished em up, no need for the cotton buffer or anything. Aluminum's may be a bit tougher cause of extra steps, but i see no reason why they couldnt stay on the car, if their natural finish then dont need to sand blast em. Painted already then you might, but if everything is masked off properly then you could even do that with them on the car.

[revat619]

I did the gold with red letter thing.

I dig it.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y34/revat619/DSCF2739.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y34/revat619/DSCF2734.jpg

[Brian]

Jay...... GTR34 style.


ebay



lol city



i don't even know

BREMBO

[revat619]

Hells yeah.

I cant afford real brembos, so you know, i do what i can.

I thought you were gonna do it too?

[Brian]

I would.... but I don't know how.

[revat619]

well you know i wouldnt have done it if it would've taken a lot of work. haha

one can of high temp GOOOOLD. One of those touch pen things of nissan red. One can of high temp clear. No need to worry about the clear fading to yellow cuz the calipers are already gold.

Clean the calipers with brake cleaner. Spray with several coats of the gold. let it dry. write on the red with the paint pen. let it dry. spray with several coats of clear.

then clean off your rotors. cuz i didnt take the calipers off. F that. hahaha

[jrocslider]

those polished ones look good

i also like the gold and red ones

i should have kept my Z32 calipers :( christmas always makes me broke

[samms95s14se]

I went with a shiney silver powder coat with shaved letters.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y30/samms95s14se/S7300142.jpg

[BustedS13]

Whoever negative repped me here for wanting to add sparkles onto the caliper and telling me to stop with the "Fad" needs to grow up.
I've been into drifting since 1999 and have yet to see flake/sparkle caliper paint on ANY car. Was just wondering if has been done by someone unbeknown to me.
The Negative Rep given out on this forum is getting ridiculous.

sounds like somebody needs a WAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHmbulance.
maybe it can take you to the drive thru, so you can get a WAAAAAHHHburger and some french cries.

I did the gold with red letter thing.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y34/revat619/DSCF2739.jpg



FIRE.

[ManoNegra]

I did the gold with red letter thing.

I dig it.



That's the same thing I did with the ones I had on one of my previous 240s - well, minus the red letters. No more TEs?

[revat619]

TE's?

I never had TE's. Always Lmgt4's. :bigok:

[Full-Lock]

hopefully it always stays that way.
make me jealous

do you have any pics further away from the wheel revat?

[alex70val]

i just copyed brembos too. looks pretty good gold with red lettering makes it stand out pretty nice better than just my black calipers i had before


http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b216/alex70val/1221071954.jpghttp://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b216/alex70val/1221071955.jpg

[hstylez]

Nice improvement. Good work.

[ALEXTHESUS*PECT]

then clean off your rotors. cuz i didnt take the calipers off. F that. hahaha

that's what i'm talkin' about! great job with the least amount of work/steps!:bigok:

[jeeper_x]

I did the gold with red letter thing.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y34/revat619/DSCF2739.jpg



shitezz, your caliper even matched the coilovers...Nice!

[revat619]

hopefully it always stays that way.
make me jealous

do you have any pics further away from the wheel revat?

Unfortunately, i dont right now. My car doesnt look too pretty at the moment, but i can assure you that once its all finished, i'll have loads of pics.:bigok:

that's what i'm talkin' about! great job with the least amount of work/steps!

hahaha yeah i'm lazy as hell if and when i actually do the work on my car. If it takes longer than a few hours, i'm over it dot com.

shitezz, your caliper even matched the coilovers...Nice!

That was totally on acccident, but after i finished them, i noticed that too! Thanks!

[INeedNewTires]

for the long awaited update pics...

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/DSCF0094.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/DSCF0092.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/DSCF0104.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/DSCF0088e.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/ineednewtires/DSCF0095.jpg

[myzislow]

good job man, looks great!!!

[bluenismos13]

Heres a pink 300zx caliper that i painted a while back...the owner of the car painted the pins that hold the pads blue...

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x37/gre3nstar14/superadvans.jpg

[RedStage]

Dude the wire wheel i used was 3", you could even get a 2" and do it on the car, just turn the steering wheel and go to town. Wouldnt even have to bleed! just stay away from the lines and bleeder valve and you should be fine, esp if their iron, the brass wheel just polished em up, no need for the cotton buffer or anything. Aluminum's may be a bit tougher cause of extra steps, but i see no reason why they couldnt stay on the car, if their natural finish then dont need to sand blast em. Painted already then you might, but if everything is masked off properly then you could even do that with them on the car.

See...now that is just not helpful ;)
Thanks, now the temptation meter just rose slightly....

Car looks great btw. Definately the cleanest looking route imo.

[jobestudios]

just painted my new set black.... boooring
http://www.team-blend.net/jacksonphoto/300zxbrakes.jpg

[Full-Lock]

my calipers need some retouching.
right now im thinking just polished

or

like what revat has but just gold and silver.
looking forward to more pics

[fueled by hate]

not bad with the rears. With a little more work you can get rid of those light sand scratches but it will take more time. The hard part of removing the pores is done, you just need to work the sand scratches out a bit more.

[Drifter Z]

looks hot....

[Full-Lock]

@ineednewtires

what size are your rotors front and rear?

[HyperTek]

hmmm i like those pink ones that someone posted.. teh advans really set it off. =p

long as you got some nice wheels the brakes look good when u pretty em up..

old s13 i hit the brakes with silver wheel paint, didnt really care much, just one day held a few newspapers around the area with the wheels off and just did a quick run with it.. I like a simple clean look.. http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v72/streetphase/?action=view&current=yard-1.jpg

[INeedNewTires]

30mm but stock sized rotors (11.7" i think?) from a 300ZX. nothing special, the 19's would usually make the rotors look smaller but because of the design of the volk SF challenge they have that part that says "Volk" on it that goes into the center like 1" and it makes the gap smaller.

When i take the car to a few track days and wear the rotors out i plan on doing 350Z track rotors up front.

[Full-Lock]

yea thats what im doing
12.8in rotors
custom spacers

[slideways2004]

30mm but stock sized rotors (11.7" i think?) from a 300ZX. nothing special, the 19's would usually make the rotors look smaller but because of the design of the volk SF challenge they have that part that says "Volk" on it that goes into the center like 1" and it makes the gap smaller.

When i take the car to a few track days and wear the rotors out i plan on doing 350Z track rotors up front.

are you gonna track it on the 19's?

[mechavore884]

maaan gr8 job on that sh!t bout time to start makin mine look that good lol

[INeedNewTires]

are you gonna track it on the 19's?

(whasup Imran!?) nah 19" R-comps WAY too expensive. I get 19" tires for free but just pilot sports n stuff. I've got a set of FD wheels with 245 and 265 Victoracers for the track, after that i'll be using my 17" Regamasters with R comps and probably sell the FD wheels, no need for 16" wheels after i wear the tires out.

[slideways2004]

(whasup Imran!?) nah 19" R-comps WAY too expensive. I get 19" tires for free but just pilot sports n stuff. I've got a set of FD wheels with 245 and 265 Victoracers for the track, after that i'll be using my 17" Regamasters with R comps and probably sell the FD wheels, no need for 16" wheels after i wear the tires out.


you get 19" for free?? damn!! do you have a full set of rega's?

oh and nice car. slam that ho

[INeedNewTires]

yea full set of rega's 17x8, and 19" pull off's from rich ass infiniti owners that dont think a "patch" is safe........ That hoe is slammed, no need to go lower on these shitty ass roads...

[TRU_DAH-V]

just painted my new set black.... boooring




same here keepin it boooring.
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z206/tru_ching/DSC01800.jpg

[zavala]

how long does the paint last on those calipers? i'm trying to decide between getting a caliper paint kit or just having them powder coated.

[Fibercus]

Looks awesome man