One of the modifications to my car that I was most excited about before installation was my 4 wheel big brake kit. This kit was not cheap and now, after having the kit on the car for no more than 200 miles, I already have concerns.

My installer told me when I picked up the car that the rear brakes were not powdercoated. He said when he was bleeding the brakes he noticed the paint on the calipers "chipping." He said it wasn't a big deal because he does powdercoating and said if I wanted him to fix it, I could bring the car back at a later date and he would take care of it.

As I see it, that is not the point...

I take issue with a couple things about this. The first being that when I initially ordered the kit (4POT front, 2POT rear), I waited almost 6 months before I received them. I was told that the rear calipers are what caused this delay. This wasn't that big of a deal to me, as I knew they would be sitting for a little while before I had them installed anyway, but that fact did pop back into my head when I learned of this chipping.

I ordered a "custom" color - Blue. I paid extra for blue calipers. My suspicions are that since the "rear calipers caused the delay" that maybe a set of black 2POT calipers were taken and hastily painted blue, then sent to me. It may be important to note that this "chipping" did not happen to the front calipers.

I have had a few people who have Stop-Tech four wheel kits on their Z's (one who is sponsored by them) look at my brakes and that is exactly what they think happened. I contacted Stop-Tech a few months ago about this, but it was at the time of SEMA and they were very busy.

I am posting this because I am wondering if anyone else has experienced anything similar? Might someone offer a suggestion as to a way to fix this issue without causing myself major inconvenience ? Sorry for the long post but thanks in advance for any help...

Here is a picture of exactly what is happening :

 

yow-za! i'd get a lawyer and sue!

 

I might be worng on thie but dont the Stoptech calipers have the (), or O in the middle?

 

yup thats what happened

its obvious

-Mo

 

that is pretty messed up. i would definately write and complain. that isnt supposed to happen

 

yeah now that i think about it...those might just be fake...??

 

Hmmm...I think you're right. But maybe the rears are different?

OP, where did you buy them from?

 

Well, I guess to answer my above post, the rear logos ARE different. This picture is taken from Stoptech's website:

 

This is a picture of the ST22 calipers from Stop-Tech's website:


Funny you ask... A company that (at least as far as I know) no longer exists: Avalon Racing. Although I did find this thread last month - https://my350z.com/forum/2003-2009-nissan-350z/261704-avalon-racing-is-back.html. Take a look at the OP's remarks about his purchase. For that matter, a bunch of the posts in there are about the pricing of Stop-Tech... Irony?

 

Well, although Avalon Racing doesn't exist, can you still contact Paul at Advanced Race Technology? I mean, if it's run by the same guy, he might be able to help you out?

 

That's a thought. I'll shoot him a PM... I'm also hoping one of the few Stop-Tech guys on this forum will chime in and confirm that something shady happened and help me resolve the matter with minimal inconvenience. It's just frustrating knowing that I spent a few thousand dollars on this kit, was psyched to get it installed, and legitimately, before I even drove the car, had paint bubbling and chipping. Know what I mean?

Either way, thanks for the suggestion...

 

You bled the brakes and some of the fluid got on the calliper.

 

Even if that was the case, that base of the caliper should not be black. You definitely got hosed. I hope it wasn't Stoptech because they seem like a trustworthy bunch.

 

There are a few options here. The first is to contact Erik at Stoptech and tell him you ordered the kit for m what used to be Avalon.

Just for the record - I sold the name "Avalon Racing" to a person named Chris K who ran the company for over a year. I did my racing program. I started Avalon in 1992 and ran it until the sale and then last March started Advanced Race because a large number of customer who were deaing with the new owner had problems.

If you have the original receipt for Chris on the order that will help. The caliper will not do that unless fluid or over torquing bolts start the chipping problem. I know stop tech does have touch up paint available.

We have to see what Erik states first - best to send him the details and pictures .

e-mail me for further help

 

Bill, my rear ST-22 logos are different from my ST-40 front logos as well no worries there..

Looks to me like what you have is not due to over tightening or slightly leaking brake fluid.. It's due to poor paint process from Stoptech.. your paint appears to be bubbling and peeling by itself.. The paint person at stoptech failed to apply primer or a paint adhesion promoter.. and at the temperature brake calipers can get to, that's not gonna work. Stoptech is usually excellent but there's some poor quality control here on your set of brakes.

Over the 3 years I've owned my ST-22's I've had some brake fluid leak on mine.. it certainly didn't do what your's did.. mine just caused a small permanent "dirt streak" where the liquid ran off.. paint still intact not bubbling and peeling like yours..

--mike

 

OP,
Paul will definitely help you out. Give him a chance and Im sure he can get you the help you need.

 

just sent a note to my Stoptech Rep to see what they can do- They were also referred to this thread.

I do not expect an answer until the 2nd

 

Just to clear up a few things, all calipers have a black hard anodizing applied before paint to strengthen the piston bores, resist corrosion and act as a primer for the paint so all of our calipers are in fact black beneath the paint. Our calipers are not powder-coated and instead use a baked on 2 part epoxy. Also the rear calipers have a different logo without the circle since it would not fit on the caliper without being too small to read.

The bubbling of the paint around the base of the bleed screws appears to be due to brake fluid but the chipping on the other areas do not. The blue paint we use does have some different characteristics than the more robut colors like red and black so you they cant be evenly compared.

Contact our tech support dept after New Years and we will see what we can do for you.

 

Thanks Erik for posting right away - It is appreciated

Paul

 

Mike:

Thanks for chiming in... I am certainly not an expert on BBK's, and I did not do the install, so I have no idea if any fluid was spilled. It very well could have been, but I find it hard to believe that getting some brake fluid on a caliper could cause that to happen. If companies knew that something like that was possible, wouldn't they take the proper measures to prepare a paint that holds up better? But what do I know? I'm sure it's a bit more complex than that...

As I said, I hadn't even driven the car from the shop where I had the install done and the chipping was apparent. And now, after roughly 200 miles I am assuming that it's only going to get worse... I did find it somewhat odd, also, that the front calipers appear to be fine.

ncparamedic:

I have sent Paul a PM and he has already replied to me twice expressing that he will do what he can. That is impressive, because I know for a fact that I did not deal with him when I purchased these brakes from Avalon. In fact, I am 99% sure that I dealt with the person who he mentioned earlier in this thread with whom other customers had difficulties. Paul could easily brush this off, because quite frankly, it's really not his problem. Again, I am very impressed that he has offered to help me out...

Paul:

Thank you!

Erik:

Thanks for replying so soon. Just to be clear, I am not upset with anyone (StopTech or Avalon). I don't know who is to blame. All I know is that my brakes should not have done that. I am pretty sure that the majority of members on this forum would have a similar (if not, far worse) reaction if they had spent the money that I spent on a BBK and had this happen before even driving the car. So I hope you can understand my frustrations. As Mike said, he has had his ST22 calipers for three years and has not experienced anything like this, while also admitting that he has spilled some fluid.

Anyway, thanks very much for offering to help me out after the New Year...