Painting calipers

I am
Once again rebuilding brake calipers, this time for the station wagons. I have both front and rears to do. I know you can buy shiny gloss caliper paint both for brushing and in rattle cans, but ideally I can find a Matt or satin black. But I cannot find any information on what primer is needed and I am dubious it will work satisfactorily without primer on used calipers. The last time I did this I painted them with stove paint but it did not last very long. I am hoping for something a bit more permanent. Do I need a primer and if so what primer do I need?

I always thought heatproof paint was 'straight to metal'. Google came up with loads ...

It's all in the preparation, I've never used primer and it lasts for years - generally only needs repainting when eventually contaminated with brake dust, stonechipped or nicked when replacing pads & discs etc.
Use a new wire brush, not an old contaminated one - and ideally a powered one, lots of brake cleaner between cleans then panel wipe immediately before painting.

miktdish said:

I always thought heatproof paint was 'straight to metal'. Google came up with loads ...

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Graculus said:

It's all in the preparation, I've never used primer and it lasts for years - generally only needs repainting when eventually contaminated with brake dust, stonechipped or nicked when replacing pads & discs etc.
Use a new wire brush, not an old contaminated one - and ideally a powered one, lots of brake cleaner between cleans then panel wipe immediately before painting.

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many thanks for confirming, there are lots of brake claipers paints available but I was struggling to find any detail on if they were straight to metal or not, i know the stove paint I used last time was but was not sure about the actual caliper paint. I will get some ordered up and being the process of cleaning the calliper half's.

What do you mean by a powdered wire brush?

I cleaned mine up and painted them in wheel silver paint
I don't drive hard so brakes don't get hot enough to burn it off
High temp engine paint would do, no need for primer

The above replues are incorrect. Near all brake caliper paints fail if applied without a high temperature primer. I use primers and paints from VHT [very high temp]. They do not fail. Buy from Frosts.

always used to pop myne in the oven an hr or so after after painting, not high heat but for 3 hrs or so, i used a zinc based primer etc

KISSMYAURA said:

always used to pop myne in the oven an hr or so after after painting, not high heat but for 3 hrs or so, i used a zinc based primer etc

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A man very much after my own heart.

First did this some 30 years back on my old Daimler v8250. The now ex-wife came back early from shopping, she went ballistic as the whole house smelled of 180degC baked on caliper paint. She had no sense of humour.

The new one's much more fun and is intrigued by such activities, commenting..."Ooh, what a good idea..."

dag019 said:

many thanks for confirming, there are lots of brake claipers paints available but I was struggling to find any detail on if they were straight to metal or not, i know the stove paint I used last time was but was not sure about the actual caliper paint. I will get some ordered up and being the process of cleaning the calliper half's.

What do you mean by a powdered wire brush?

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Powered - not powdered as in used in a drill, die grinder etc. A hand wire brush tends to trap contaminants which you're then rubbing over the freshly exposed surface, leaving micro-contaminants, a wire wheel will fling the muck off as it rotates so there will be less contamination to clean with chemicals.
This is the paint I've used over the years on my own & friends vehicles.

Despite the above opinion that "The above replues are incorrect.", they're not. They're another opinion, in my case, based upon actual personal experience.

Graculus said:

Powered - not powdered

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My apologies, that is my inability to read correctly! I wouldn't dream of doing any wire brushing on steel components by hand, that sounds far too much like hard work. I always use and angle grinder with wire wheels on so that is not a problem.

v8250 said:

The above replues are incorrect. Near all brake caliper paints fail if applied without a high temperature primer. I use primers and paints from VHT [very high temp]. They do not fail. Buy from Frosts.

Click to expand...

KISSMYAURA said:

always used to pop myne in the oven an hr or so after after painting, not high heat but for 3 hrs or so, i used a zinc based primer etc

Click to expand...

I have to say I am always very dubious of painting things, especially metals without a primer hence the purpose of this thread. If there are high temperature primers that are compatible available whether they are needed or not that is likely to be the route I go down. When you say a zinc based primer is that just standard 182 or a specific high temp one?

v8250 said:

A man very much after my own heart.

First did this some 30 years back on my old Daimler v8250. The now ex-wife came back early from shopping, she went ballistic as the whole house smelled of 180degC baked on caliper paint. She had no sense of humour.

The new one's much more fun and is intrigued by such activities, commenting..."Ooh, what a good idea..."

Click to expand...

i washed some SU carbs and a few other parts in my girlfriends dishwasher once, lathered them up with degreser, double tablet and hottest setting. After a few days her parents found out, i assume due to thier plates tasting funny and sooh after that she was no longer my girlfirend, i was 18 yrs old lol. on the plus side the carbs came up a treat!

For small or delicate parts, I tend to use an ultrasonic parts cleaner with the parts & the cleaning fluid in a Ziploc bag with deionised water filling the remaining space in the cleaning bath. I suspect that may be a step too far into the future for this part of the site though

Graculus said:

For small or delicate parts, I tend to use an ultrasonic parts cleaner with the parts & the cleaning fluid in a Ziploc bag with deionised water filling the remaining space in the cleaning bath. I suspect that may be a step too far into the future for this part of the site though

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By your small delicate parts, you mean your...??

KISSMYAURA said:

i washed some SU carbs and a few other parts in my girlfriends dishwasher once, lathered them up with degreser, double tablet and hottest setting. After a few days her parents found out, i assume due to thier plates tasting funny and sooh after that she was no longer my girlfirend, i was 18 yrs old lol. on the plus side the carbs came up a treat!

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Some folk have no sense of understanging.

Btw, did you bang the mother?

dag019 said:

I have to say I am always very dubious of painting things, especially metals without a primer hence the purpose of this thread. If there are high temperature primers that are compatible available whether they are needed or not that is likely to be the route I go down. When you say a zinc based primer is that just standard 182 or a specific high temp one?

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I've never primered engine parts before painting, rattle can paint stays on engine blocks no problem.
I used to paint exhaust manifolds in emulsion paint years ago, it sometimes discoloured a bit but never burned off.
Unless you're going racing I wouldn't worry too much

v8250 said:

Some folk have no sense of understanging.

Btw, did you bang the mother?

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nope but she wa good to imagine to hold things off if you get what i mean. she looked like dot cotton on a bad day

Well first coat of high temperature caliper primer is on. Think it will Probabaly need a second coat before a top coat but I will keep this updated with how it turns out. Went for gun metal grey in the end as a colour because everything else I could find was a high gloss finish where as the grey is satin.