So I decided to paint the rotor hubs and calipers before the ipd meet, and although it's not a real challenging project, there are a few things that might help keep you out of trouble.
I decided to go with the G2 brush-on system from ipd ($46) since I didn't want to take the calipers off nor get into a bunch of masking nonsense. This is what you get in the kit
![]()
Paint (note the can is about 1/2 full so don't go ballistic when you open it), a bottle of catalyst (gives you about 4 hours to do the job so clean first then mix), a brush (go to the hardware store and buy a couple more - soldering flux brushes - since they do gum up), a can of brake cleaner (they claim this is some kind of superdeluxextraspecial cleaner, so I did the first passes with some Brakekleen then followed up with the G2 cleaner), and a nice little G2 ad patch for the trunk lid.
As with most things, the success of the project is in how clean the starting materials are. I probably spent a good 2 hours detergent washing first, Brakekleen and toothbrushing, then Brakekleen and wiping with a rag. Spray liberally and wipe - if you see guck, spray and toothbrush again. Then do a final clean with the G2 cleaner to remove any paint non-sticking chemical the Brakekleen may have left.
Open the can, dump in the catalyst and stir well. It's real gunky on the bottom of the can so make sure you get a good homogenous mixture before you start painting. Now it's just a matter of paint application. Start on the inside of the caliper (so you don't end up with a nice imprint of the caliper on your fav garage shirt - you don't want to know how I know this . . .) and do all 4 backs first. It gives them a bit of time to "tack up" for the second coat while you do the fronts and sides. The first coat looks just awful - very streaky and bad coverage but don't worry, it will fix itself with the second coat and during curing
![]()
![]()
Bad lighting - it's really red
Go from one to the next (the tack thing again), then touch up the backs if you need to, then start the second coat on the fronts. You will notice a much better coverage and less streaking the second time around (more the true color)
![]()
then when it drys, the brush marks really flatten out and give a pretty nice smooth and even coating.
![]()
I got the brembo decals from Ikon Sign (Amazon) $16.50 with shipping.
![]()
Put them on and I thought WTF??? They really looked "decally"
![]()
but with time, the edge effect gradually went away and unless you look close they look pretty OK.
![]()
![]()
![]()
And the final touch is the G2 decal
![]()
A couple of other calipers seen at the ipd meet. Thought I had taken a bunch but I can only find two :facepalm:
![]()
![]()
Hope this give you some incentive to start your caliper project and that it may give you some mind relief when you get halfway through and the "holy s**t this looks soooooo bad" creeps in.
No I didn't leave the trunk decal on . . .
I decided to go with the G2 brush-on system from ipd ($46) since I didn't want to take the calipers off nor get into a bunch of masking nonsense. This is what you get in the kit
Paint (note the can is about 1/2 full so don't go ballistic when you open it), a bottle of catalyst (gives you about 4 hours to do the job so clean first then mix), a brush (go to the hardware store and buy a couple more - soldering flux brushes - since they do gum up), a can of brake cleaner (they claim this is some kind of superdeluxextraspecial cleaner, so I did the first passes with some Brakekleen then followed up with the G2 cleaner), and a nice little G2 ad patch for the trunk lid.
As with most things, the success of the project is in how clean the starting materials are. I probably spent a good 2 hours detergent washing first, Brakekleen and toothbrushing, then Brakekleen and wiping with a rag. Spray liberally and wipe - if you see guck, spray and toothbrush again. Then do a final clean with the G2 cleaner to remove any paint non-sticking chemical the Brakekleen may have left.
Open the can, dump in the catalyst and stir well. It's real gunky on the bottom of the can so make sure you get a good homogenous mixture before you start painting. Now it's just a matter of paint application. Start on the inside of the caliper (so you don't end up with a nice imprint of the caliper on your fav garage shirt - you don't want to know how I know this . . .) and do all 4 backs first. It gives them a bit of time to "tack up" for the second coat while you do the fronts and sides. The first coat looks just awful - very streaky and bad coverage but don't worry, it will fix itself with the second coat and during curing
Bad lighting - it's really red
Go from one to the next (the tack thing again), then touch up the backs if you need to, then start the second coat on the fronts. You will notice a much better coverage and less streaking the second time around (more the true color)
then when it drys, the brush marks really flatten out and give a pretty nice smooth and even coating.
I got the brembo decals from Ikon Sign (Amazon) $16.50 with shipping.
Put them on and I thought WTF??? They really looked "decally"
but with time, the edge effect gradually went away and unless you look close they look pretty OK.
And the final touch is the G2 decal
A couple of other calipers seen at the ipd meet. Thought I had taken a bunch but I can only find two :facepalm:
Hope this give you some incentive to start your caliper project and that it may give you some mind relief when you get halfway through and the "holy s**t this looks soooooo bad" creeps in.
No I didn't leave the trunk decal on . . .
I think it looks good.
