Painting brake calipers

[325_driver 422]

Painting the brake calipers we estoril blue on my e91

Thought I might Chuck a timeline up of it as I go

The quantity of brake dust is outstanding, trying to capture as much of it as I can because there's at least 50g of it

 

[325_driver 422]

Two calipers to go

There's no quick way to wire brush calipers

 

All up when I'm done I would estimate between 6 to 8 hours prep lol

[aja540i 1895]

Wire brush wheel in a drill helps!

[325_driver 422]

@aja540i got one but it doesn't help that much, getting in all the small gaps is the time killer

[zero 1160]

I've also found kerosene helps. I have a tub in my garage of kerosene that I soak parts in.

Not sure what it would do to rubber parts though, so I would be removing those first.

[325_driver 422]

Primering time

Hope I have enough blue left lol

My supply has done two rocker covers now hoping to do all calipers

Not bad for only buying 200ml

[zero 1160]

Did you have to buy hi temp resistant paint?

[325_driver 422]

@zero not for daily use. Calipers don't exceed 80deg unless your really giving it sh*t. That bc/cc handles up to 120 anyway before warping. ( They bake it in 70° ) that's autothane range though (that diamond Schwartz you have is the same)

Not sure what other brands of base coat does, it should be similar.

The hubs and rotors I got vht though. The rotors get a bit hotter.

Heard people doing normal enamel on them though too. But yeah to be on the safe side.

Edited September 15, 2019 by 325_driver

[Olaf 3235]

8 hours ago, 325_driver said:

Two calipers to go

There's no quick way to wire brush calipers

 

All up when I'm done I would estimate between 6 to 8 hours prep lol

I found the cup brush on a small grinder fast.  Much faster than a brush on a wire drill.  Yes, it's a bit more brutal... but it gets you on to cleaning and masking sooner.

[325_driver 422]

Base coat on! Man these boys are Poppin!! ? 

Midnight ... And still cranking , getting it done

Clear coat going to unleash the blue

[325_driver 422]

1am. Clear is on.

They looking goooooood

Blew the breaker to the garage for compressor some how part way through and ended up having to run 40m of extension cords from the other house to finish the job lol!

Good times

 

[325_driver 422]

@M3AN rear hubs ain't coming off. And the mallet is huge. 

Looks like it's going to to be hopefully someone else's mission in the future. Or hopefully it never has to come off.

Oh well lol still going to paint the outside 

 

Edited September 16, 2019 by 325_driver

[325_driver 422]

Horse power aquired

That gun metal rim blue caliper combo is nice. Glad I didn't go red.

 

Edited September 16, 2019 by 325_driver

[Statek 87]

3 hours ago, 325_driver said:

@M3AN rear hubs ain't coming off. And the mallet is huge. 

Looks like it's going to to be hopefully someone else's mission in the future. Or hopefully it never has to come off.

You'll probably need to back off the hand-brake adjustment to be able to take the rotors off. You're lucky you quit instead of persevering with the bfh, otherwise you'd be picking up handbrake assembly pieces and potentially need to replace the backing plate where it's all mounted to. Ask me how i know 

[325_driver 422]

@Statek i checked, with the hand brake on the rotor had no movement, with the hand break off it seemed to turn (but not too far because the other wheel was grounded)

So im hoping i didnt do any damage lol, i gave up not after long, too hard for me to be arsed in this

i guess i'll find out when i try and use my hand brake? Or would i have known i done something lol

[325_driver 422]

Fitted

Now just gotta bleed the brakes.

Looks real clean, not Honda ricer at all

[M3AN 4015]

Did you remove the securing bolt from the rotor before trying to remove it? It's still in on your pics.

Those calipers actually look really good...I'll be interested to see how the paint lives up to the abuse it's going to get. Good colour choice too, would look mint on my M3 I think.

 

[325_driver 422]

@M3AN yeah bro, i gave up and then put the allen key bolt back in, painted it -  and then took a photo

Paint should hold up alright, it's got clear coat over it

if it were just base coat, i think it would be chewed up quite quickly

Regretting not doing the front brake pads while it was out, could have gone to a ceramic pad, less dust!

[325_driver 422]

Are those front caliper brackets the same left and right?

Event thought i labelled everything, i might have got them mixed up lol, as i found my self trying to attach the front left caliper on the front right, and it was upside down so i stopped haha.

they look identical? Only the caliper is different each side

[M3AN 4015]

Calipers are certainly one side only, brackets it depends. They'll be a mirror image but if they're ALSO symmetrical then they can be used on either side. Check RealOEM to see if there are different part numbers. 

[325_driver 422]

It would appear it is the same 

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=VS12-EUR-03-2006-E91-BMW-325i&diagId=34_2249

The brake pads move within the sliders on each side

dunno, will check all is working tomorrow when i bleed the brakes

[Statek 87]

5 hours ago, 325_driver said:

@Statek i checked, with the hand brake on the rotor had no movement, with the hand break off it seemed to turn (but not too far because the other wheel was grounded)

So im hoping i didnt do any damage lol, i gave up not after long, too hard for me to be arsed in this

i guess i'll find out when i try and use my hand brake? Or would i have known i done something lol

You're probably ok - it's only if you had managed to convince the rotor to come off that way, you would have probably found all the handbrake parts inside the drum.

btw, I second the caliper colour choice, looks good ?

[325_driver 422]

@Statek yeah bro, i am living the dream of an m3 

- without the 2 door feel

- without the price tag

- without the performance

I havent had the heart to debadge it or chuck msport stickers on the calipers lol

 

[zero 1160]

23 hours ago, 325_driver said:

@zero not for daily use. Calipers don't exceed 80deg unless your really giving it sh*t. That bc/cc handles up to 120 anyway before warping. ( They bake it in 70° ) that's autothane range though (that diamond Schwartz you have is the same)

Not sure what other brands of base coat does, it should be similar.

The hubs and rotors I got vht though. The rotors get a bit hotter.

Heard people doing normal enamel on them though too. But yeah to be on the safe side.

Do you reckon the paint would be fine on rocker covers? I dont know what temp rocker covers get to.

[325_driver 422]

@M3AN

I just found this - did you ever try this when you were trying to get yours off?

i wish i tried it