Best method for cleaning and painting/powdercoating calipers

DORIGTT · Post by **DORIGTT** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 3:15 am

I just got my care-package from Ebay and now I need to get these dirty pigs cleaned and Porsche red. What is the best method?

A_67vdub · Post by **A_67vdub** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:00 pm

I used this stuff, but paid about twice as much at Pelican parts.

http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/g2/caliper_paint.jsp

MikeVW · Post by **MikeVW** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 8:10 pm

Are you doing your own powdercoating? If so clean them religiously and then clean them again. Put them in an oven and cook for 30 minutes or so at 450 degrees to get any gas out of the casting and help get some more of the contaminantes out of the metal. Clean more and more. Any brake fluid left on the caliper will ruin the powdercoat. There is some dispute on whether or not to completely disassemble the caliper for powdercoating. I don't think it is a big deal to leave the seals in. I have powdered a few calipers and they came out great and still look great thousands of miles later.

Mike

volkaholic1 · Post by **volkaholic1** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:44 am

"Burnoff" prior to powdercoating is critical for any cast part. Those little iregularities in the surface trap all kinds of oils & bloom out when heated. Once clean, I would sandblast the surface to ensure good bite. The rubber seals would be my concern, can they handle 450'F?

jrinlv315 · Post by **jrinlv315** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:18 am

I thought that sandblasting was bad to do to anything you are going to powdercoat, something about the sand getting stuck in the surface of the metal and interacting with the powder?? I don't know, but I thought thats what someone told me that is going to do my rims..FYI JR

volkaholic1 · Post by **volkaholic1** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 1:26 pm

Not normally. I suppose if your surface had very large pits, cracks, or a tight area like on a steel rim between the center & the rim, you could get sand stuck in there, which would not be desirable to powdercoat (or paint for that matter). I sandblast everything before powdercoating, steel, alum, rims, etc.

66 deluxe · Post by **66 deluxe** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 5:28 am

I have just repainted my 944T 4 pots, this week at work, first i wet bead blasted them then plastic media blasted the caliper, then i taped up all areas that i did not want paint on and then painted them in PPG gloss black 2 pac, then put a high temp proof clear over them, they look a million $. Oh i work at an aricraft engine overhaul shop, thats why i could get heat proof clear, which is made by The Indestructible Paint Company who are based in England. Cheers Damo.

64bug · Post by **64bug** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 4:38 pm

I did the same with ppg