i got this from mike sho from superhonda.. but i did it on my car so you can see how it looks on our cb7s
Home-Made Anodized Brake Caliper DIY
Just got done doing my brake calipers. I cant believe how awesome they look. I also just got my rims a few days ago and that really helped bring things out. Its easy to do , doesnt take long and it comes out looking great.
Also the good thing with this , you can do whatever you like. You can just clean them and get them back to a nice silver. Continue and make them an aluminum fleck look , or even move on to the full anodized look. Its also cheap and goes on very easy.
Where to get it & How much:
I was looking around for paint at Discount Auto Parts. Started looking at Plastikote paint cans for some Honda black paint, found that.
Then when looking through the heat paint section. I found a new product. Anodizit paint by Plastikote. It had a single base aluminum coat and then you could choose between blue or red top clear coat. So you get your base and clear cans.
Each can costs 3.99 , very cheap and the can is of adequate size to easily do all 4 calipers. You can also find Plastikote ANODIZIT products at Pep Boys, Carquest, Advance Auto parts & Discount Auto Parts stores in your area.
I went with blue for the top clear coat. Then went home and got to work.
--
Getting Started:
You first want to remove your wheel. Of course.
You will then want to clean the caliper of dirt & road grime or the paint wont stick correctly or at all, ruining your finish. You can use a few methods of cleaning. Wire Brush or Sanding them for the initial dirt, then clean with alcohol and a toothbrush, you can use anything to get the hard to reach areas.
Now get some Sandpaper, 200grit works well at first, as well the wire brush for the initial cleaning. Get the main dirt off. I also basically smoothed a few of the main areas on the direct side of the caliper with the sandpaper. The area you will see most through the rim. The rest I let stay porous looking. The sanding might take 20-30 minutes per caliper , so get ready to get down and dirty. All depending on how much work and smoothing you want to do. You can continue to smooth the caliper with higher grit sand paper. 500 should be good enough.
Next get the sand and dust off the caliper a quick blow on it , pressured air.....or vaccum will work. Watch the eyes when blowing though and do not breath it in. Just blow , run from the area and dont breath for that few seconds , stuff goes everywhere & might have asbestos from your brakes.
You should then have a nice clean and silver caliper.
You can also use just about any method of cleaning. Just be sure your not using any sort of degreaser that would get on the brake rotor.
Wire brush might be the most effective and easiest method for cleaning. You can substitue that for the sanding. The sanding just helps smooth things out though for a better painting surface....at the same time it also cleans off caked on dirt pretty well.
Now the final prep.
You get a rag , get some alcohol soaked into it and clean the rest of the sand , grit & dirt off the caliper. This will prep and clean the surface of contaiminents and will also help the paint stick. Make sure that the words / indentions have nothing in them and are clean , so they will still show through when painted. The toothbrush soaked in alcohol is good at getting hard to reach areas. Then use a clean paper towell one last time soaked in alcohol and give it a final wipe , there shouldnt be really any dirt left to pick up with the rag. This means the caliper is clean and ready.
Continue for more instructions , photos and details on painting.
Step1: Finished sanding and cleaning.
Once your done with that , you should get a crappy towel and wrap it around your rotor. Its actually very easy. Just grab the middle , place that along the side , then wrap around. Make sure no rotor is showing and the caliper is fully showing.
Now your ready to spray. Make a very light first spray of the aluminum base coat. You should notice it looks a lot cleaner now. Another nice light coat , and possibly a third final coat and touch up any spots that you missed. Make sure to hit at a few angles and let dry in between each spraying.
Step 2: Base aluminum coat added.
Now you simply get the blue , and make another light coat at first and let dry. You can choose how thick to go. It looks pretty good with 2 nice coats. Nothing thick or it gets real blue and deep looking , it will also sort of take away from the silver fleck. But still looks awesome so go with what you like. If you want a deep look , just add more coats.
Step 3: Final Coat applied & Fully Dry
This is by far the best stuff I have ever used on brake calipers. Its meant to withstand heat upto 500 degrees. So you can use this on other hot things , like valve covers and who knows what else you can think up. The shine and depth is awesome. Its cheap and easy.....I also hit a little spot on the front of my rotor in the center (looks like a bolt) that shows through with the rims I have. Ill have to show that later.
Step 4: Rims on and ready to go. Notice the center.
Enjoy.
Home-Made Anodized Brake Caliper DIY
Just got done doing my brake calipers. I cant believe how awesome they look. I also just got my rims a few days ago and that really helped bring things out. Its easy to do , doesnt take long and it comes out looking great.
Also the good thing with this , you can do whatever you like. You can just clean them and get them back to a nice silver. Continue and make them an aluminum fleck look , or even move on to the full anodized look. Its also cheap and goes on very easy.
Where to get it & How much:
I was looking around for paint at Discount Auto Parts. Started looking at Plastikote paint cans for some Honda black paint, found that.
Then when looking through the heat paint section. I found a new product. Anodizit paint by Plastikote. It had a single base aluminum coat and then you could choose between blue or red top clear coat. So you get your base and clear cans.
Each can costs 3.99 , very cheap and the can is of adequate size to easily do all 4 calipers. You can also find Plastikote ANODIZIT products at Pep Boys, Carquest, Advance Auto parts & Discount Auto Parts stores in your area.
I went with blue for the top clear coat. Then went home and got to work.
--
Getting Started:
You first want to remove your wheel. Of course.
You will then want to clean the caliper of dirt & road grime or the paint wont stick correctly or at all, ruining your finish. You can use a few methods of cleaning. Wire Brush or Sanding them for the initial dirt, then clean with alcohol and a toothbrush, you can use anything to get the hard to reach areas.
Now get some Sandpaper, 200grit works well at first, as well the wire brush for the initial cleaning. Get the main dirt off. I also basically smoothed a few of the main areas on the direct side of the caliper with the sandpaper. The area you will see most through the rim. The rest I let stay porous looking. The sanding might take 20-30 minutes per caliper , so get ready to get down and dirty. All depending on how much work and smoothing you want to do. You can continue to smooth the caliper with higher grit sand paper. 500 should be good enough.
Next get the sand and dust off the caliper a quick blow on it , pressured air.....or vaccum will work. Watch the eyes when blowing though and do not breath it in. Just blow , run from the area and dont breath for that few seconds , stuff goes everywhere & might have asbestos from your brakes.
You should then have a nice clean and silver caliper.
You can also use just about any method of cleaning. Just be sure your not using any sort of degreaser that would get on the brake rotor.
Wire brush might be the most effective and easiest method for cleaning. You can substitue that for the sanding. The sanding just helps smooth things out though for a better painting surface....at the same time it also cleans off caked on dirt pretty well.
Now the final prep.
You get a rag , get some alcohol soaked into it and clean the rest of the sand , grit & dirt off the caliper. This will prep and clean the surface of contaiminents and will also help the paint stick. Make sure that the words / indentions have nothing in them and are clean , so they will still show through when painted. The toothbrush soaked in alcohol is good at getting hard to reach areas. Then use a clean paper towell one last time soaked in alcohol and give it a final wipe , there shouldnt be really any dirt left to pick up with the rag. This means the caliper is clean and ready.
Continue for more instructions , photos and details on painting.
Step1: Finished sanding and cleaning.
Once your done with that , you should get a crappy towel and wrap it around your rotor. Its actually very easy. Just grab the middle , place that along the side , then wrap around. Make sure no rotor is showing and the caliper is fully showing.
Now your ready to spray. Make a very light first spray of the aluminum base coat. You should notice it looks a lot cleaner now. Another nice light coat , and possibly a third final coat and touch up any spots that you missed. Make sure to hit at a few angles and let dry in between each spraying.
Step 2: Base aluminum coat added.
Now you simply get the blue , and make another light coat at first and let dry. You can choose how thick to go. It looks pretty good with 2 nice coats. Nothing thick or it gets real blue and deep looking , it will also sort of take away from the silver fleck. But still looks awesome so go with what you like. If you want a deep look , just add more coats.
Step 3: Final Coat applied & Fully Dry
This is by far the best stuff I have ever used on brake calipers. Its meant to withstand heat upto 500 degrees. So you can use this on other hot things , like valve covers and who knows what else you can think up. The shine and depth is awesome. Its cheap and easy.....I also hit a little spot on the front of my rotor in the center (looks like a bolt) that shows through with the rims I have. Ill have to show that later.
Step 4: Rims on and ready to go. Notice the center.
Enjoy.
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