If you are either low in funds, bored, or just want an easy mod, caliper and drum painting is just for you. I'd like to begin with stating that this tutorial may cause bodily harm, harm to your vehicle, or any type of other problem. I won't be held accountable for any of these misgivings, nor do i recommend that you do this if you are shakey at hand.

First of all, you'll need caliper paint. I suggest going to walmart and buying Duplicolor's pack for 15 dollars, which consists of paint, a brush, caliper cleaner, and masking tape. You'll also need a jack and a toothbrush to clean the caliper.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/drumpainting/supplies.jpg

Make sure you can accomodate a sturdy area which you can properly set up the jack; i suggest some sort of garage for optimal ventilation and lack of dust particles.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/drumpainting/step1.jpg

The first step is to clean the caliper. To do this i suggest you lay down newspaper, find a toothbrush, and clean according to your respective package. make sure you scrub vigorously, cleaning everything as if you were cleaning a pair of sneakers. A clean caliper is an obvious necessity to a good finish.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/drumpainting/step2.jpg

Secondly, begin painting. You can mask off the areas which shouldn't be painted if necessary, unless you trust your hand. You're going to want to thinly paint this area, let it dry, and repeat the steps atleast three times; or whenever it looks thick to you.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/drumpainting/step3.jpg
Let it dry.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/drumpainting/caldry.jpg

Great, you're done with your first caliper. :clap: Head over to the other side and repeat the steps. After that, you WILL (if you bought duplicolor's pack) have AMPLE paint to do the drums. I even spilled nearly a fourth of the can and i still had enough.

To prep the drums is the same as the calipers. Just make sure you don't paint the studs, and the area your wheel will be resting (in my opinion, you shouldn't paint this area, so you wheel wont get paint on it etc).
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/drumpainting/drum2.jpg

After you prep it (by cleaning with the caliper spray and brush) begin to paint. Like aforementioned, try to avoid the palce your wheels will be placed. This should be a little more difficult for free-handers. You may want to mask this area off.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/drumpainting/drum1.jpg

Finally, let the drum dry. It may take longer for the drum to dry since it's larger. I used a fan to speed up the process.
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/drumpainting/drumdry.jpg
After, repeat the steps to do the other side. Allow one hour to dry before putting on wheels, and make sure you let it dry for ATLEAST 3-4 hours prior vehicle use. I just left it in the garage for the night before i used it.

Congragulations, your finished (hopefully :rofl: )
I hope this helped anyone who wants to do a inexpensive, good looking modification which will keep on pleasing you :clap:

Finished Product:
http://www.scionlife.com/tech/images/drumpainting/finish.jpg

Copyright Andrew Smith

Good tutorial.
Thanks.

Feel free to add this to the tech section.

WOW! very bice how to. tech section please

may i see a shot of the drums and side shot please, maybe a close up too?

rear drum: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v670/tronbox/rear.jpg

please say no to painted to rear drums!

rear drum: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v670/tronbox/rear.jpg heres mine, same kit and everything, i am about to get some yellow and red, and get a orange color and redo it though.......... make sure you build up a couple of layers, i did a thick single and the rear is chipping a little here and there...... but anyways..... my darn rim is in the way, but u get the jist of it......
http://image40.webshots.com/40/7/58/32/290975832CSUNXr_ph.jpg

please say no to painted to rear drums!

To each their own. Personally, i could care less what you like, but i'd have to say it goes well with my color scheme.

Now added to tech section.. feel free to amuse yourselves.

Nice! I'd love to see some pics of painted calipers on tCs

Why don't you do it? :D

Why would you want to paint your drums? If anything i'd try to avert attention away from drums; they look bad enough without paint.

why would paint your drums? seriously....its really not a "perfomance part"....

Why wouldnt someone? Not even going to waste my time with SL forum complainers :come:

Why wouldnt someone? Not even going to waste my time with SL forum complainers :come:

Awww, some people don't like the drums painted and you throw a hissy fit. :silly:

please say no to painted to rear drums!

To each their own. Personally, i could care less what you like, but i'd have to say it goes well with my color scheme.

Could you not read this? Guess not, because i've already addressed those who oppose what i like. Thanks for your time though?

is it just me or does that paint job look really shotty ? ... i mean u can clearly tell it was BRUSHED ON .. you can see paint strokes in the paint ...

im giving you 2 thumbs up for the effort... but wouldnt it have been better to soray them rather then brush them ? ... i assume you would have gotten a much cleaner look

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v670/tronbox/drum1.jpg

is it just me or does that paint job look really shotty ? ... i mean u can clearly tell it was BRUSHED ON .. you can see paint strokes in the paint ...

im giving you 2 thumbs up for the effort... but wouldnt it have been better to soray them rather then brush them ? ... i assume you would have gotten a much cleaner look

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v670/tronbox/drum1.jpg




Im sure this is a reference pic....... of course he put on another coat.... :blah:

is it just me or does that paint job look really shotty ? ... i mean u can clearly tell it was BRUSHED ON .. you can see paint strokes in the paint ...

im giving you 2 thumbs up for the effort... but wouldnt it have been better to soray them rather then brush them ? ... i assume you would have gotten a much cleaner look

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v670/tronbox/drum1.jpg




Im sure this is a reference pic....... of course he put on another coat.... :blah:

wouldn't u think he would have then posted it then ?? if there is another pic id like to see ,,,as would others to see actually how clean it comes out because those pics arent very flattering

Thats the first coat, i didn't take a picture when it was finished. I figured you'd get the idea.. Too lazy to take my wheel off and take another pic.

Cool. I was thinking about painting my calipers racing satin black using that same caliper paint kit from duplicolor and now that i see this tutorial it really makes me want to do it. :P

looking good.. (adding to my favorites)

nice writeup. any reason u used the brush method over the spray. i have never used the brush, but i have the spray..and it worked well also.

ya know why people paint their brakes? becasue they wish they could dish out for brembros

I used engine enamel sprayed it in a cup and then used a brush to apply , now I gotta find some engine enamel in a bronze color.

the reason i painted the drums on my old car was because if i didn't, they would be all rust within a couple of months....

ya know why people paint their brakes? becasue they wish they could dish out for brembros

well I guess since right now, there aren't any "brembro" brake kits available for scion, technically, all of us are wishing we could dish out for the kits.

I'm guessing the _brembo_kit (note the single r) for the tC's will be out around the same time as the TRD s/c.... ;)

If you are either low in funds, bored, or just want an easy mod, caliper and drum painting is just for you.

Very cool article, bud. Thanks! :clap:

Oh, and thanks for ignoring the naysayers' comments: :blah:
1. Most of us realized you probably painted another coat on the drums.
2. Painting the drums is a personal choice -- who gives a sh** if it's not considered a "performance part"?

I can't wait to dive into this on my silver tC. It's just crying for blue calipers! And I'm no youngster... :tap:

Gosh... why is everybody being so stinkin negative?? He was just trying to help... geez... lighten up guys...

Gosh... why is everybody being so stinkin negative?? He was just trying to help... geez... lighten up guys...

Word! :clap:

Gosh... why is everybody being so stinkin negative?? He was just trying to help... geez... lighten up guys...
Word! :clap:
Yeah -- what he said!

I am definitly going to use this setup thanks for the write up.

My 05 Xb front capilers are a light green color. I was thinking a flat black would be better.

im thinking about doing this to my super white TC but im not sure of the color. i like red because its very sporty on white.
also thinking Blue because i have blue LED interior lighting and it would go well. and the other color i think would be BLACK. just a midnight dark black to go with my White/Black exterior look and go with the dark 5% tint...

what you guys think???

i like it a lot. nice write up. how much does that duplicolor caliper kit cost?

i like it a lot. nice write up. how much does that duplicolor caliper kit cost?
At this place (Advance Auto Parts), the whole kit is only $14.94. Nice!

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?mfrcode=DPL&mfrpartnumber=BCP400&sourcepage=SEARCHRESULTS[/url]

To each his/her own. I didn't think I was into it, until I did mine.

http://photobucket.com/albums/y142/BigBaby2/SeGL%20Spring%20Install/P4170033.jpg

No pic of the front caliper :doh:

:P

To each his/her own. I didn't think I was into it, until I did mine.

http://photobucket.com/albums/y142/BigBaby2/SeGL%20Spring%20Install/P4170033.jpg

No pic of the front caliper :doh:

:P

looks good keith,next time you are around the neighborhood give me a call....

Thanks for the great write-up bro. It was a good prep. Im reading this while I wait for my third coat to dry in my garage. Going to try and go for 5.

I'm using the same kit. The bristles on the brush start to come out after a while. If you have some paint thiner, goof off, acitone, etc... use a cap full and plenty to clean the brush off between 25+ minute drys. Use plenty of water to clean off the solovent and your ready to go again.

I recommend taking off your calipers to paint. The tC is not hard at all. I rested mine on a small bucket. BTW: The front rotors come pretty easy to if your thinking about a rotor upgrade later.

Wow Super Job!!!! I just got some wheels put on my box today :love: I got Sport Max Racing 940 in black and they do look sweet on my Yellow box. Now what colors do these kits come in???

thank you so much!!!! :clap: I am thinking of doing mine red as well... but just have not got the time to do it... but now with your right up... I think I might knock it down next weekend!!

i got the same kit yest. ill paint today..bump for a cool article

good tech thread, pharynx


I would add this: Brush painting with modern brushes and paints not meant for self-leveling will make for brush marks. However! There is an oriental brush called the "hake" brush, which is so soft and fine as to make no brush marks.

Sidebar: before the era of sprayed paints (roughly 1924, when the Oakland automobile introduced the Dupont system of sprayed nitro lacquer), all fine finishes were brushed. There were no brush marks in fine finishes because the varnish-paints were based on linseed oil. The oil content lubricated the liquid compound and made for perfect leveling

Today, as then, only a linseed oil varnish like Benjamin Moore 404 makes for great looking brushed results.

--Painting rear brake drums decreases braking performance. Paint insulates the drum; it cannot pass off heat nearly so well as bare cast iron.

--If you have rims and must paint the rear drums for better appearance, a -thin coat of black paint is best.

Brake drums convert kinetic (rubbing) energy to HEAT. Any film over the brake drum acts just like a blanket, slowing the conduction of heat to the air. Of painted colors, black is least harmful to heat transfer because black is the most "emissive" color.

White and other light colors like yellow and silver are least emissive. The darker the color and the thinner the coat, the better for drum brakes.

Paint thickness or color on calipers matters hardly at all, relatively speaking.

I used engine enamel sprayed it in a cup and then used a brush to apply , now I gotta find some engine enamel in a bronze color.


Darren, engine enamel is "acylic enamel", is all. Acrylic enamels have 500F heat resistance. This is -not to say- that all pigment colors will do well on high heat applications. However, the binder of the acrylic enamel paint -is- up to the task.

Duplicolor!

Thanks for the tutorial. I got the kit today and am waiting for the first caliper to dry. I'll post pics when i'm done.

the why am I painting mine Gloss Black??

i am doing mine today
but i will remove the drums and calipers (i have a lift)
so i will post pics later

I just got my done too. They did them with the powered coating. they are baked on they been on for over a year no pealing.
http://www.seidner-miller.com/xb/ORANGE.jpg
http://www.seidner-miller.com/xb/ORANGE2.jpg

Thats freakin hot! Did they have to take them off to powerder coat them? There is some powdercoating close by so I might just have mine done.

yea i think powder coating would work best, how much did it cost to have them coated and what was the turn-around time to complete the install?

why would paint your drums? seriously....its really not a "perfomance part"....


Why paint the front if your not gonna paint the back plus I know its not done so it's enough impulse for me to paint the rears regardless of the fact that they do help you stop still and ur e-brake works thru them so yeah some paint for them is ok too.

Dayum humpty111, that ride sure would look awsome with "VOLS" lettered on the sides! LMAO

MORE PICS PLS!

first of all wanted to say thanks to pharynx for posting the tutorial and giving me the idea... i stopped by autozone and saw the paint kit he was talking about. i also saw a can of similarly colored red paint and decided that i'd be more confident with my painting skills with the spraypaint.

it took a good few hours (three coats per caliper, and about 20 minutes between coats) to do all four, but for a first go i think i did a pretty good job. i can see some places where i missed and some areas that are uneven so i'm definaely going to repaint in a day or two.

i think that it definately improved the look of my car and i don't regret doing it. i know it's not the same as buying special performance calipers that come in powder-coated red metal. actually i was worred that the calipers would look cheap or they would come out crappy when i was done, but i really think that they look good and i'm glad i did it.

here are some pics of my job so far... oh, and of my new rims! :-)

btw this is my first picture post so sorry in advance if i mess up!

http://ifss.gaelanlloyd.com/scionlife/caliper0.jpg
http://ifss.gaelanlloyd.com/scionlife/caliper1.jpg
http://ifss.gaelanlloyd.com/scionlife/caliper2.jpg
http://ifss.gaelanlloyd.com/scionlife/caliper3.jpg

looks nice

Looks good. I have had mine painted for 2 years now. Only problem is, after winter I have to re-do it. The sand and salt basically chips 50% of it off.

My drums and calipers have no rust though, so it not only looks good, but it protects the life of your brakes :)

I'm planning on painting my calipers today. I bought the Duplicolor kit and it says right on the box under the WARNING section "DO NOT paint discs DRUMS brake pads or shoes. Now i was going to paint the drums regardless of all the chatter back and forth on here but now.....
The thing is i like my brakes and i want them to work. A little rust on my drums doesn't worry me since i learned they are cast iron. Iron is very strong and has a high melting point so a little rust aint gonna hurt em. Instead of painting them, which i didn't think looked that cool to begin with just doesn't make any sense now. I'm painting the calipers black so it should be obvious that i'm not trying to draw attention to my them, let alone the drums. I just want a slightly cleaner look if done right, goes un-noticed. I hate looking at those ugly calipers. Does anyone know where to find some good drilled/slotted rotors? Does anyone have a final word on painting drums?

Here's mine on my tC!
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h122/Nauba/Lights006.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h122/Nauba/Lights005.jpg

I got rid of the red, it was on there for almost 2 years. But, I just found it to be too flashy, and kinda ricey....So they are black now.

Heres the pics:

This first one is Last fall, when they were red.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/xBrian/misc%20xB%20pictures/t3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/xBrian/1f6dc280.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/xBrian/0805ae79.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/xBrian/7feaa940.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/xBrian/8aa838a7.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/xBrian/5391a098.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/xBrian/dccb0210.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/xBrian/0ca712f9.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/xBrian/ad580cb7.jpg

Black looks nice too! You know what would look hot?
Match the color of your box!! TCM calipers!
It would look cool as a match!

I just happened to scan this tutorial this morning. This afternoon I just happened to spot a Dupli-Color Caliper Paint Kit on sale for $6. I came home and in a couple of hours I had pretty red calipers (only). I went a little more subdued. I only painted the calipers and not the brackets. The box is only two weeks old so clean up wasn't a big issue. I nice spot of color without being terribly conspicuous. 4 coats and plenty of paint left for touch up down the road.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m5/supertech_02/Wheel001.jpg

Looks nice supertech! :D

Just did my calipers today, Will do my drums tomorrow hopefully.

I rolled with the red calipers and drums for a while, but the longevity was simply not there, and the rice look is not what I am after. I powdercoated mine in a buddy's garage in grey and have never looked back.

What all is involed in getting them poder coated, and how much would it cost?
I'm sure you would have to completely remove from callipers and drums from the vehicle right?

What all is involed in getting them poder coated, and how much would it cost?
I'm sure you would have to completely remove from callipers and drums from the vehicle right?

I did it for about $20 in materials, but really only used about $2 worth of the powder. Removing the drums from the vehicle is cake. The calipers, however, do require taking the brake lines off which then means bleeding the brakes when you put them back on. I have no clue what it would cost to have someone do them, but you can get a gun for $100 and you need an electric oven that you don't plan on using to cook food in. You must make sure that there is nothing on the metal of the drums or calipers, so if you painted them, that has to come off completely. Had I not painted mine prior, this would have been a two hour job. Given that I did, it took all day to clean the surfaces properly. The powdercoating process takes about half an hour, plus the hour of heat soaking the brakes prior to coating (this hour could have been avoided if the parts weren't parts which get so hot) at the end of which, the parts can be put directly into service (no waiting for it to dry)

For pics and stuff, follow the link:

http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=115735

Good write up. I may be doing this at some point. I painted my brake calipers on my old SVT Focus, which had disc on the front and rear. I found that Wal-mart sold brake caliper paint in spray form in the auto section for about $4-6/can. I can plenty to do it all. The big problem with spraying is you either have to take the calipers off, or you have to spend a TON of time prepping and masking off everything you don't want painted. I did it the hard way as I didn't know anything about removing brakes and that isn't something I wanted to mess around with. When it was all said and done, it looked great. I think brushing the paint on would be an even easier job overall.

And for those wondering why paint a "non-performance" part, do you ask the same question to the people that have painted dash trim, etc inside their vehicles? If you ask me, if it can be seen and there is a way to make it look better, then why not?

Guys and Gals ... i have found a much easier way of getting this done, and from the looks of it, with better results.

I too can not be held responsible for you not taking some common sense and painting the wrong parts.

Here is what you will need.

( 1 ) can of brake cleaner
( 1 ) can of what ever color you want of Dupli-Color Engine Enamel 500 degree paint ( lots of colors to choose from at your local PepBoys and AutoZone )
masking tape
newspaper
old rag.

first ... remove all wheels
second ... spray liberally the front calipers and rear drums with brake cleaner. Wipe with old rag
third ... follow step 2 again, making sure you have a clean surface for the paint. Allow to dry thoughtly ( 5 minutes )
fourth ... mask of the face of the front rotors and studs using newspaper and tape
fifth ... mask off the rear studs
sixth ... apply firts light coat of paint to front calipers and rear drums. DO NOT APPLY HEAVY COATS!
seventh ... take 10 minutes and drink a beer.
eighth ... follow steps 6 and 7 3 more times ... allowing paint to dry inbetween coats.
nineth ... remove tape and paper
tenth ... re-install wheels

There you have it, all done in 10 easy steps. I did this earlier this summer on mine and my GFs boxes and the paint is still just as glossy at it was when i first applied it. NOTE: i would suggest strongly that you do this in a warm climate. The warmer the surroundings, the faster it can all be done. I think when i did both xBs it took 45 mintues for both from start to finish.

^ Dont use duplicolor. That stuff peels after about a year. By the 2nd year you will have to peel all old paint off and redo it. The peel off is a tone harder then I thought it would be too.

Get this
http://wheelskin.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=BRAKE+CALIPER+PAINT
From this link, $35 dollars, shipping is included. It comes in a couple of days.
This is what I got, and it uses a reactor to activate the paint and the results are far superior to duplicolor.
After my car sat in the sun all day, with the duplicolor i could take my fingernal and press a crease into it.

The G2 stuff, you cant do that. Its like an alternative to powdercoating. I know that sounds stupid, powdercoat is magneticaly charged paint particles that atatch to the metal surface of the caliper. Then its "baked" at 1,000 degrees and almost melts onto the surface of the caliper creating a perfect almost unpenatrable seal. This stuff is the paint version of powdercoating. Thats How satisfied I am with the product.

I'm highly impressed with it. I wish somone would have told me this when I was going to do it initially.

After my car sat in the sun all day, with the duplicolor i could take my fingernal and press a crease into it.


Like i said above, LIGHT COATS. If you can leave an indentation or imprint in the paint after it sat in the sun all day, then you had too much paint on it. Its meant to paint, no spakel.

That was after 2 coats, 6 hours between the 2 coats. If you want superious results, duplicolor is not the way to go. I say this with experience.

I'm considering this too...because I 'd rather save big bank for nitrous, a better clutch, & a SC atm-rather than new calipers... I suppose I should get new brakes b4 to be safer :P

I know spray would perhaps give a nicer finish but trying to control the spray might be a pain in the @$$. I don't really want the entire wheel well to be orange...hmmm actually...naaahhh

Nice write-up though :clap:

G2 is making an Orange kit...
http://www.g2usa.com/news.shtml
http://www.g2usa.com/images/orangenews.jpg

i still think red looks the best =]

Thats the first coat, i didn't take a picture when it was finished. I figured you'd get the idea.. Too lazy to take my wheel off and take another pic.
i did this with my old car and after you put a few coats on it looked really good

Does anybody know the most effective way of removing the caliper paint? I want to remove the paint for the caliper brakets and some excess spary on the the drum.

i used duplicolor on the calipers of my 95 camaro and by years end half of it peeled off. though i really want to do this myself i'm hesitant to use the spray. i'm goin to try the kit with the brush and use light coats. i have a few days off where i can play with red.


my ? - i have a red scion xa and i plan on gettin yellow/black seat covers for my interior. should i paint the calipers (and drums) red... or yellow? all advice/criticism is welcome.

ya know why people paint their brakes? becasue they wish they could dish out for brembros

well I guess since right now, there aren't any "brembro" brake kits available for scion, technically, all of us are wishing we could dish out for the kits.

I'm guessing the _brembo_kit (note the single r) for the tC's will be out around the same time as the TRD s/c.... ;)

lmao :ponder: :!:

i used duplicolor on the calipers of my 95 camaro and by years end half of it peeled off. though i really want to do this myself i'm hesitant to use the spray. i'm goin to try the kit with the brush and use light coats. i have a few days off where i can play with red.


my ? - i have a red scion xa and i plan on gettin yellow/black seat covers for my interior. should i paint the calipers (and drums) red... or yellow? all advice/criticism is welcome.

id say red to keep the theme going

the way i see it, your car is like a city. you got the outside of the car, which is one neighborhood, the engine bay which is another, and the interior as the other

my one friend has a blue GTI, a yellow engine bay, and a red interior

it looks like an effing crayon box, but its hella tight

Just got mine done, did them black to not offset the red rims that i have. I will get photos up tomorrow.

Zar Our, Not sure on the most effective. I masked the operating parts and sprayed the duplicolor paint thinner on the old red surface. Let it sit for about 15 mins. Then I took a wire brush to it. It removed about 80% of the old red paint. The remaining paint had to be removed with the dremel.

The bad part about the dremel is it removed the protective layer that is applied by the manufacturer to protect from rust etc.

Then I took a wet rag and used hot water in a bucket to wipe away any extra debris away.
Then let the surafe dry and wiped is again with a dry rag.

im going to do mine this weekend, ill let you know how it goes

I have a NB 08 TC, should I paint mine red? I think it would look nice with the red taillights. Also, is this an easy thing to do for a guy with no experience like me? Im sort of scared that I wont put the wheels back on tight enough or something and it might fall out while im driving :doh: All I have to do is tighten the lug nuts on really tight right? Also I have the wheel locks so is there any other steps I should take to take my wheels off? Should a beginner like me even do a simple mod like this? Also would I need two jacks or just one enough?

It's real easy. Just make sure you have a torque wrench (or access to one) so that you ensure your wheels won't "fall off" while you're driving.

Steve

You cannot paint the calipers and not paint the drums, its like putting on two different colored shoes. Anyway what about wheel cleaners? Does wheel cleaner eat away at the caliper paint?

I want to paint mine white, once I get some rims.

nice

i never thought about painting them white...i think i know what color im doing mine now :-)

Won't white get nasty looking real easily?

Won't white get nasty looking real easily?

x2

Nice info!



Thx



John

nice

Hey, Murbyrne, your avatar looks like you took Max's avatar...

http://www.scionlife.com/profile/Max

http://tijil.org/tom_icon_flap.gif

It sounds like everyone is in agreement that the G2 paint is superior. I will probably opt for green or orange -- red is too standard now.

i just did mine with the caliper paint kit......sometimes the directions they give you sometimes go overboard but its all good......just need lots of time and patients.......number 1 rule make sure the caliper is clean as possible

Can you use any other spray paint other the Dupli-Color?