Painting Caliper and brake hubs, extreme heat

[Luke]

Hey guys

I sprayed up my brake hubs and edges of my front calipers for the concourse day with 3m Heat proof paint in Aluminium colour (virtually matches the stock SE silver spray on the calipers and what used to be on the hubs).
It was all cleaned back to the metal so I had a clean surface to work with as per instructions on the can.
This paint is supposed to be able to go up to 650C, which is why I chose it over regular caliper paint which is about 250-400C depending on the brand.
http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online ... 68#details


Problem is after the recent trackday, the paint on the front hubs and edges of the caliper has literally burnt off.
It turned purple during the day before doing this, ie after the first session and was pretty much all gone by the end of the day.
This would be due to using Hawk Blue's, and they can get much hotter than 600C.
The original Mazda paint on the rest of the caliper has not burnt one bit, so what did they use?


So is there any silver paint out there rated at 1000C plus, with a reasonable price?
I was thinking an exhaust or manifold paint, problem is most are grey or black. Only thing I found so far is $80 a spray can so thats not happening.

[twinlol]

http://shop.ebay.com.au/i.html?LH_Avail ... =12&_rdc=1


There are many colours include red, green, blue, white etc. It is essentially engine block paint.

They are heat resistant to nearly 1000 degrees. - Might need to check if thats Celsius or Fahrenheit as I haven't looked in to that.


Also, make sure after you paint it you wait 24 hours before you drive, then slowly warm up the brakes in order to get the paint settled and hardened.
If you have the time, a clear coat over the top will give you a good gloss and may increase longevity.
I don't mean to suggest that you didn't clean the area properly, but just to have all your bases covered give it a really good go with a steel brush and everything. - Which I'm sure you did.


It might pay to go with a more expensive product as it as you will now learn will work out cheaper than burning through a $30.00 one then having to go and buy a $60.00 one for example.

Best of luck and let me know how it goes.

[Luke]

Yeh, I'm a bit worried about the G2 paint, I have emailed them to find out it that is celsius or fahrenheit.

Anyway the other one I have found is this.
Bill Hirsch - Aluminum Exhaust Manifold Paint HiTemp
Rated to 2000f or 1100C.
Anyone ever heard of it before, it's in the right colour and is aimed at exhaust systems so should survive burning brakes.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Aluminum-Exhaust ... 0440391937

[Mr Morlock]

K&H ( Dandenong Vic) have a caliper spray pack and it works fine for normal conditions and its cost is less than $20 per can. They do not recommend using it on internal brake components. An automotive paint supplier maybe able to give advice or contact K&H - a local made product. Incidentally in theory you would not be able to import a can of auto paint as it is a dangerous good.
As far as I am aware painting calipers is merely aesthetic and does work well for standard vehicles.

[twinlol]

It seems like the best way to get a quality and lasting look would be to get a powdercoat. I'm sure thats how Brembo and Ferrari etc get theres to come up so nice.

I just rang up a local place out of interest, they would do powder coating on the caliper for $20 per caliper. That was for the colour black. So I imagine the others are going to be the same give or take
$5


Not bad considering it's probably the only thing that will last a long time, so if you look at it that way it's cheap enough.

Maybe you can make a Brembo stencil for it too

I was thinking of getting MX-5 Stenciled into mine when I got it done.

[Luke]

I got an email back from G2, and it is 980F so only 525C. So that will likely burn off as well.

Anyway, so how high can powder coated surfaces go to?

And Twinlol where did you get the qoute from?

[twinlol]

I can't give you an exact figure on the temperature that powdercoating can withstand, it depends on the method of powdercoating and the type of powder used, so many businesses are going to give you different estimates on the temperature. -Best ask them lso they are aware of your needs.
That was just for a local steel business in town ( Armidale) From when I looked before you are in Syd? There are specific caliper powder coating places in Syd, Brissie and other major centres. I suggest one of those as they will use the correct powder and application method for your specification.
If you need help choosing a specific type of coating I can post a more in depth explanation of the types of coating.

[wun911]

I've used the G2 stuff and I have done track days the paint its quite good.
The colour is still red it hasn't faded to an orange or burnt off like spray can stuff.

Best to take the caliper off and wash it before you paint it if you want it to last.
Just a warning the paint 'chips off' easily, if you hit it with tools while chaning pads the paint will chip off etc.