Finally Painted my Calipers

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2000UZJ

2000UZJ

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Oct 7, 2008
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Location
Atlanta
Yesterday I walked out and finally got the urge to paint my calipers. Now for most people, they wouldnt notice.... but for me i do. I figured I would do this and see how it turned out. anyway here are some shots of yesterday/today.

It says on the can to paint in temps. above 65*, but I sprayed in 40* and it went on perfectly.


First: Pulled the wheel off and cleaned the caliper using a wire brush and my new drill, which worked like a charm. My lungs kinda hurt from the dirt/grime that came off, so I would use a mask 2nd time around.


Second: I used warm water and dish soap to wash them down. Then took a blow dryer to dry them off. Otherwise they would be wet for hours.

Third: Used a really old t-shirt and dried them off, made sure they were really clean.


Pics:

1: right after I removed the wheel, pretty dirty.
2: After I used the wire brush+ powerdrill to clean em up
3: After the dishsoap and water. Much cleaner (I actually thought about leaving them silver, I kinda liked the polished look)
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Second Step:

Taped everything off. I didnt want to take the actually caliper off, I'm lazy so i figured this will do for now. Taping off is pretty self explanitory.


I used the Dupli-color Black Caliper Paint, Im happy with the color and gloss % of it. Its not to glossy, but I think it'll turn into a matte finish after some heat and brake dust.
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Third Step: Painting

If you do go with Dupli-Colors, you will noticed that its not really a "spray", its more of like a fountain of paint. The first spray I did, it shot onto the caliper, over the top, onto the ground. I was shocked! This stuff is like silly string. It goes on wicked thick to, so watch out for dripping and so on.

Since it was cold out I put a blow dryer up to it, seemed to help dry it in cold conditions. I didnt try drying without it so I cant say what would happen. I used it mainly cause its cold out, and paint can said to use when warmer. I figured I would simulate the warm. Here are some painting shots:
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Drying:



Since I didnt have all day, I decided to spray it. Let it sit for about an hour. Then pop the wheel back on. And jack up the other side. Here are some pictures of the final product. Now to tell you the truth, I don't think many people will notice/sprint out the door and go paint there calipers. But, it does add a nice touch, not seeing that big floating steel caliper poking through those sporty 16" Landcruiser rims.
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And here is some shots during, I also removed that skidpate thats made of platic, and cleaned it. I also found my +battery terminal cover sitting ontop, along with about 5lbs. of mud.



I thought it looked funny with a huge truck, and a ity-bity jack holding it up. I slid the tire under the control arm just incase. I had to leave it up all night on the jack. I had never used the jack, had no idea on its strength after 8+ years sitting there.


Hopefully this shows a few of you that wanted to do this, but never got around to it. This may help you. I know its a smaller project but I found it to be a blast, The ones on the rear are so small it wouldnt do anything to paint them black. You would probably end up painting something else too, but ill probably get around to that sometime this month, wiat. Next month...


Happy Thanksgiving everyone, Enjoy :beer: :D
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Thats the whole point. A porche Cayenne looks good with red or yellow, becuase you can invision it burning out and powersliding. Can't really see a Landcruiser doing that. I wanted to make them disapear. Plus red or yellow sometimes does scream performance.

Well in the pictures you cannot see them, but in the day. I could, they have a nice glossy finish to them (for now), and looks much better.
 
I thought the whole point of painting one's calipers was to make them stand out?
 
Just a note on safety, I would highly recommend picking up a pair of jack stands to back up that jack. I picked up a set of 3 ton stands from Princess Auto (our version of Northern Tool or Harbour Freight?) for about $20. I also used a set of 6 ton stands for my front axle service simply because the footprint is bigger = more stable. The Toyota jack is quite good, but it wouldn't take much to tip it over with the truck on top. Bad news, especially if you're under there!
 
Well, i wanted to make them "dissapear", so i figured this would work. Im picking up some jack stands sometime this week. The OEM scared me a little when i was sanding it. It looked pretty dinky, so i slid the tire under the control arm. Hoping that if it did collapse, i might just mess up a rim or control arm vs. the whole front end plus the rotors/amything else.

As for future plans. I might sand it down amd do a bright silver, or a very dark grey. Like a military grey ( f22 color).
 
Very nice write up!!
 
Nicely done and I like the "hidden black" look.
 
Nice write-up, thanks for sharing!

I would like to see them in red though.. but, all to his own
 
Yeah, they look good.. just wonder if red would look good too, or to race'y on an LC..

I have red willwoods on my BMW and it looks great.. On an LC, maybe..


2000UZJ said:
well, I asked that question on the red calipers. Most said no. So i went with the blackened look
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