Paint Your Brake Calipers and Drums by mxs

You will need:

A jack and jackstands
Wire brushes
Masking tape
Caliper paint kit (I used the G2 kit, Duplicolor makes a similar kit), includes:
- 2 part high temperature paint
- mixing stick
- brush
- brake cleaner

Jack up your car, set it securely on the stands, and remove the wheels. I did the rear drums first and then the front calipers.

I my case, I was repainting, so I had a lot of paint to remove first.

If you have to remove paint, you can use the brake cleaner spray to soften it. Then remove it with a utility blade or wire brush.

This took me a while because it kept raining. [:@]
Finally, all the paint is stripped off both drums.


If you don't have to remove any paint, just scrub the drums with a wire brush to remove any rust, mud, whatever. Then spray it all down with the brake cleaner. It's important to have a good, clean surface.

Finally, you're ready to paint. Mix the two parts of the paint together according to the directions. Mask off the back of the drum if you want. Then get out the brush and start painting! You don't need to paint the face of the drum where the wheel touches.

Apply two coats, and allow it to dry according to the directions before reinstalling the wheels.

To paint the calipers, follow the same procedure.
Before:

Without the paint:


I did this without removing the calipers. It worked OK. You can also loosen the bolts on the back and swing the caliper up, or remove it completely. If you're going to do it like I did, get masking tape and mask off the rubber dust boots (see above) and the rotors (see below). You do not want to get any paint on the rotors.

Again, apply two coats and allow the paint to dry before reinstalling the wheels.

So here's the before and after:

Now, your eyes focus on the shiny new wheels instead of the chipping paint on the calipers.

The entire project took me about two days, but I had a lot of old paint to remove, I was being super careful, and it kept raining. This was my first modification, it was really easy and made a big difference. I recommend it.