I already have a set of Track wheels to put on my Silverstone Touring whenever it comes in, and I was considering powdercoating the stock brakes the color of the Brembos to at least give a flash of color, if not the impression that the car actually has really expensive brakes. I was wondering if this could be a DIY project, and if so, how is it done? If not, where might I go in the Houston area to get it done and how much should I expect to pay?

 

This is definitely a DIY possible job, you will need to get high temp paint. Remove the wheel, mask off the entire wheel well area to avoid over spray, clean the calipers very well and apply 2-3 coats waiting for drying in between.

To save time I would buy jack stands and do all 4 at the same time.

By the way how did you get the Rays and how much?

 

Countdown until someone yells 'rice' :
10.......
9.........

 

not cheap, but you can powdercoat yourself. Much better than high temp spray paint.

http://eastwoodco.com/

 

Those that mean the Track model is "rice"?

 

Nice site, I don't think these are powder coats but one of the pages there is for Brake Paint Kits of various colors and not costly.

They have a lot of stuff but looking at powder coating products they have, I think it will be costly to DIY powder coating.

 

I happened accross a guy in CA who ownes a speed shop who knew a guy who was upgrading his Track wheels... to make a long story short, I got the set for $1500; pretty awesome deal if I do say so myself.

 

That is a nice deal, I would have taken it myself, I really like the rays better than the other 18" wheels they come with because they have the same motif as the 17" wheel.

If you coat brakes you will have to post pics with the Rays, very envoius, hopefully I can find such a deal myself.

 

Those that believe pretending to be something you are not is rice.

 

I have no intension trying to pass of my stock brakes as Brembos; I simply like the look of having a flash of color behind the wheels. Many people paint their brakes for purely aesthetic reasons; its no different than everyone else in this forum who makes any kind of visual modifications to their cars. Its simply a matter of personal preference and trying to be a little different without overdoing it. When I think Rice, I picture lots of gaudy graphics, cheap Altezza tail lights, and the car slammed so far to the ground that it has no useable suspension to speak of. While there are differing degrees of everything including what people qualify as Rice, I think getting all bent over colored brake calipers is a little extreme, especially since I want to do it right by powdercoating them and not using the cheap spray paint method. That said, I would still appreciate any info. on powdercoating anyone could provide.

 

OK I would agree but not in this case, if it was like you were putting 500SL badges on a 300SL then that would be rice even though it is a german car. But here adding the Rays, which I think are really nice, and painting the calipers are for looks more than trying to look like something you are not, and lets face it putting on the Rays on mine the only thing short of a Track would be the Brembos, VDC and Tire pressure monitors, or am I already rice for putting on the spoiler!!

So not trying to start anything here just agreeing with you but disagreeing also.

 

Thanks for the back-up. I appreciate your suggestions on the paint, but I've done the paint before and it just doesn't turn out as nice as I'd like it on this car. Given that, powdercoating or anodizing would be the best options, and I think the powdercoat would look the best. I would think color matching would be the toughest part, but I don't know that much about the procedure itself.

Of course it would be nice to have the Brembos, and if they are ever offered as an upgrade kit, i might consider it, but I don't know if I could justify the cost. If I did get them, all I'd need is the aditional 3 underbody peices, and I'd have what, an Ultimate Z?

 

Not trying to start another r*ce debate... just using a little pointed humor.

I think the track wheels are great. I also think putting them on a non-track Z is great. Even painting the calipers is fine by me (although frowned upon by more serious anti-r*cers)
My only problem is this statement:

"I was considering powdercoating the stock brakes the color of the Brembos to at least give a flash of color, if not the impression that the car actually has really expensive brakes."

I equate this to Cobra emblems on a Mustang GT. It's 'upgrading' your trim level....

 

If you do go the route of paint, which is probably the easiest and cheapest, use the Folia Tech Caliper paint. It is about $50 for the kit. It holds up awesome, and looks good. Unbolt the calipers (leave the lines attached), spray them with brake cleaner, and paint.

 

I may check it out if all else fails. Is there a website I can research it on? What colors are available? I would like to be able to match the color of the Brembos, not to pretend they are Brembos, but I like the way the color ties in with the amber on the front of the car and the Burnt Orange interior I will have.

 

I could think of better colors than yellow to paint the calipers tho.

I found a place that power coats stuff here in GA, doesnt seem so bad, they wanted 20$ for a handle, so Id imagine a caliper to be similair, only 40$ for a whole rim, so probably for around 100$(or less) you could have all 4 done. and it would be done proffesionally by a powder coating company.

and they can do turnaround in the same day look around for one. I think I searched for powder coating Georgia in google and found a link to it. maybe you could do the same for texas or whatever.

 

Beware - If you are seriously conisdering powdercoating, then you must remove the calipers from the car and disassemble the calipers to remove all components and especially, all rubber pieces. True powdercoating involves heating the part to be powdercoated to ~800 degrees IIRC to fuse the paint particles together. In Dallas, if you disassemble everything yourself and just take into a powdercoat shop the four calipers, it will run you around $200 to powdercoat them in any color you want. The cost is high because of the labor for them to properly mask off the piston bores and caliper interior to prevent powder contamination. I myself would be leery of disassembling hydraulic components and reassembling them without incurring damage without buying a new piston seal kit.
Conclusion: yes, powdercoating is more durable than spraypainting, but it is cheaper and you are less likely to incur damage to your brake system components.

 

Hmmm... Good point. I'll definitely have to take that into consideration. Thanks for the info. and POV.

 

uhhh, .... "POV" = ????

 

Point Of View. Not that anything you said was really an opinion or anything, just good, factual info. the POV just looked good at the time and I was running on about 4 hour of sleep.