Polished brake calipers?

[kujiwara]

Have anyone polished their brake calipers on a MK4? How do they look?
The yellow calipers I have are chipping and I'm putting my summers back on soon, thought I could polish them so I don't have to worry about chipping again.

[RobG]

Re: Polished brake calipers?

Polish so they look chrome? I don't think cast steel polishes too well. It would be a nightmare to clean without the right wheels for access.

[MechEngg]

Re: Polished brake calipers?

I would personally say that if your current paint is chipping that you didn't do it correctly. Did you buy the correct type of caliper enamel? Did you prep the caliper well enough? My last brakes were fine after 3 years of paint....

[kujiwara]

Re: Polished brake calipers?

I would personally say that if your current paint is chipping that you didn't do it correctly. Did you buy the correct type of caliper enamel? Did you prep the caliper well enough? My last brakes were fine after 3 years of paint....

I bought the duplicolor kit, followed the instructions very carefully as that was literally the first thing I've done to my car.

[Kor]

Re: Polished brake calipers?

I dunno I too have used those duplicolor kits but NEVER had a chip.

I'm guessing that the calipers weren't 100% clean when you started, or maybe some temperature fluctuations...

Anyway I think polished won't look that great, it will just show the grime more and you will be able to notice the less-polished spots that you'll inevitably have if you do it yourself.

If you don't like the duplicolor kits maybe just strip them back to stock?

[vteclol]

Re: Polished brake calipers?

I used endura to do my calipers 3 years ago and they still look freshly painted and don't have a single rock chip. I would suggest trying it out, it would be way easier than polishing them

[MechEngg]

Re: Polished brake calipers?

Well how many coats did you use? Did you use a wire brush to make sure to get all the flakes off before using the degreasing spray? (trying to remember the process from 4 years ago) Did you fully disassemble the calipers or did you just paint the faces and the chips are happening on the edge of the painted surface? Did you go drifting in a gravel parking lot (not putting it beyond you at this point)?

[kujiwara]

Re: Polished brake calipers?

Well how many coats did you use? Did you use a wire brush to make sure to get all the flakes off before using the degreasing spray? (trying to remember the process from 4 years ago) Did you fully disassemble the calipers or did you just paint the faces and the chips are happening on the edge of the painted surface? Did you go drifting in a gravel parking lot (not putting it beyond you at this point)?

6coats, i sanded with 220 grit, I just masked off the edges, it's chipping closer to the center of the caliper. No, I don't drift on gravel...

I probably just try and polish one caliper this week and see how it turns out. If it doesn't work I'll just paint it yellow again.

[MechEngg]

Re: Polished brake calipers?

6 coats! I did like 2 on mine i think. I also didn't sand it down, i think sanding leads to poor adhesion properties vs just a cast metal. That could be your problem?

[kujiwara]

Re: Polished brake calipers?

6 coats! I did like 2 on mine i think. I also didn't sand it down, i think sanding leads to poor adhesion properties vs just a cast metal. That could be your problem?

The duplicolor is really thin, I didn't get full coverage until six coats. I don't get why sanding leads to poor adhesion though, doesn't sanding help paint stick?

[Mcrow]

Re: Polished brake calipers?

Sanding helps for adhesion on smooth surfaces, calipers are "gritty" enough that the surface will hold paint well without sanding.

[MechEngg]

Re: Polished brake calipers?

Weird, did you stir the paint well enough? I remember it being a bit thin but maybe the yellow just doesn't coat as well as the blue that i used.

^^What mcrow said, the cast nature of the brakes actually has fantastic adhesion. Sanding them down will actually make them smoother than they already were, making the paint not hold as well. And if you start to polish your calipers there is no turning back, you can't go ahead and paint them afterwards because the paint probably won't stick worth a darn.

[onceover]

Re: Polished brake calipers?

Weird, did you stir the paint well enough? I remember it being a bit thin but maybe the yellow just doesn't coat as well as the blue that i used.

^^What mcrow said, the cast nature of the brakes actually has fantastic adhesion. Sanding them down will actually make them smoother than they already were, making the paint not hold as well. And if you start to polish your calipers there is no turning back, you can't go ahead and paint them afterwards because the paint probably won't stick worth a darn.

Uh, wrong? I painted my smooth wilood calipers and it stuck just fine.

[Danaldson]

Re: Polished brake calipers?

you can buy new calipers :P mine are nice and shiney.

[MechEngg]

Re: Polished brake calipers?

Uh, wrong? I painted my smooth wilood calipers and it stuck just fine.

Were they sanded down to 2000 grit like the OP is trying to do? If so did you etch them with some sort of acid of metal prep?