Suspension Brakes 1st Gen Most liked posts in thread: Caliper covers or paint?

Caliper covers will hold in heat, heat is the enemy of brakes.

 

Paint them.... Covers are for the Pep Boys look.

 

My personal opinion.
Paint em, the covers are silly and make you poser.:lol: and cost too much

 

I forgot that I had pics of the BBQ Grill painted calipers! This pic was taken after a few hundred miles w/ new pads, so they are kinda dusty but still look pretty good for a $4 rattle-can of spray paint and they look just as nice after a track weekend, so the finish can take the heat.

A touch of natural wax can be applied gently if you prefer a bit of gloss over flat.

 

G2 you have to mix and use it all at once because it has a hardener you mix into the paint.

The DP kit is just brush on spray paint. I ordered my G2 paint from Amazon ....read the reviews on Amazon for the G2 paint. It's good stuff.

 

The G2 material I am pretty sure is epoxy which is good very hard drying and heat resistant chit. The others like duplicolor etc. are just high heat enamels which look good but do not have the durability of epoxy. Just make sure you use the epoxy in a well ventillated area or you will get high as a kite and mess your whole job up

 

I bought my Wilwood front calipers used when a friend upgraded to TSW calipers. They had been used pretty hard, so I did a rebuild and applied a few coats of flat black BBQ Grill paint (high temp). It looks very stealth and doesn't show brake dust at all! After about 2 years of service, I did a quick respray to clean 'em up a tad bit where drips of brake fluid from bleeding had changed the paint surface a bit. They still look great and, honestly, I prefer the finish to gloss powdercoat.

 

Thanks! Here is a better picture of the finished front & rear.

http://www.motoringalliance.com/forums/member-garages/8727-2002-mini-cooper-s.html

 

I do agree this is not a job for someone who has yet to change a tire. FWIW it is a very good skill to have. If you lived in my area I'd help you do it. Maybe someone down your way could help you.

 

You would have to take the intake manifold off to see the intake valves.

Dave

 

The G2 paint kit is 1000 times better than the Dupli-color kit. I have used both. DP kit first and it chipped a lot. I used a wire brush on a drill and stripped it and covered it with the G2 kit and it looks great and does not chip. Well unless you drop the rim on the caliper when taking a rim off. (duh)

I had 2 G2 kits and did two coats and they still look great after 2 years. I live in the NE so we get snow and use salt and I drive my car all real long. No performance garage queen sitting on jack stands here. The G2 kit paint holds up.

 

The kit in Red from Amazon...

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Temperature-Leveling-G2-Caliper-System/dp/B000AUMYMM"]Amazon.com: High Temperature High Gloss Self Leveling Brush On Red G2 Brake Caliper Paint System Kit: Automotive@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61W7ZB5AKTL.@@AMEPARAM@@61W7ZB5AKTL[/ame]

 

Paint.

 

Paint...The plastic covers are for JDM Hondas.

 

Paint

 

Wow! Look at that BBK! Vroom vroom vroom It's huuuuu-- wait a second. Something's seriously off here... :skep:

^ This is another reason caliper covers aren't a good idea. Here's another vote for paint. Powdercoat might be another option too

 

I would expect that covers would impede heat removal by blocking airflow around the calipers... which would be bad for almost any track application.

It seems funny to degrade performance by mimicing performance products...

+1 for paint or powdercoating.

 

I suppose it really just depends on what you're going for. Sometimes it's more important to park hard then drive hard, but even then a BBK will help you park harder then a caliper cover for sure. At least with paint or powdercoat, you'll have the capability of parking or driving equally well without one affecting the other

 

+1 for powdercoating!

 

Paint 'em or leave 'em OEM. I prefer that look as it looks cleaner over time.