Finally finished painting my calipers...(nice 'n long)

[Blue DevilS4]

I started working on them on Tues, and finally I can drive my car again. It took so long b/c I was working with just a jack and jack stands (damn, I wish I had a lift!), so I had to devote seperate days for front and back.

Here's what I used: the Folia Tec red kit ($49 from Ultra Performance 800.438.5872), the Audi ring caliper decals (part #4120W, $12.50 for 5 from Fred Baker Audi 440.232.4700), and Dupli-Color Clear Ceramic Engine Enamel (part #DE1636, couple of bucks from Kragen).

Tuesday: I prepped the front brakes first by washing the entire wheelwell (and calipers, of course), then sanding them clean with some steel wool, then removing the residue by scrubbing with a toothbrush soaked in rubbing alcohol, then used the brake cleaner supplied in the Folia Tec kit. Next came the masking - I used regular masking tape and decided to only paint the front half of the actual calipers - I didn't paint the material behind the rotors b/c it was a pain in the ass to reach and you can't really see it anyways). This took probably an hour or so to do both sides; once done, I gave the calipers a quick spray with some of that compressed air used for keyboards to get rid of any leftover crap.



I mixed up maybe a quarter of the can and got painting. It really coats well, but I had some problems as time wore on as I started losing bristles from the brush (since it's an epoxy, not a paint, it cures instead of drying, so it started to get thick and pull the hairs out - ****ty-ass Sears brushes). This was a pain, b/c it really slowed me down as I tried to pull out every hair it lost (not 100% successful there), but eventually I wound up with fairly decent results. I let it cure for a couple hours, then threw the wheels on and called it a day.


Wed: Got new brushes. Rear brakes - did same as I did for the front, but did the entire calipers. After it was ok to throw the wheels on, went back to the fronts and sanded them down a bit and used a razor to remove most of the embedded brush bristles. Mixed up a little more paint and finished the 2nd coat - no masking necessary b/c I only dealt with the flat, larger areas.

Thurs: Morning - Touched up the rear brakes and added a thin 2nd coat. Then I applied the decals to the front calipers - really easy to do. They're basically small stckers, so all you have to do is remove the backing, then line em up and stick it down and pull off the fronting (? whatever you want to call the opposite of backing). Once I smoothed it into place, I gave it a coat of the clear enamel to seal it in place. Several hours later went back and added a 2nd coat of the clear coat.


Fri: Morning - Rear brakes finished curing, applied the decals and clear coats as before. Finally, all was dry this afternoon, and I could finally drive my car again.

All in all, I think it turned out pretty sweet - the neighborhood kids think it's pretty cool too.


The finished look

[BOOSTD]

[Blue DevilS4]

Jenny Del Pino - she's on some morning MTV-type show in France

[BOOSTD]

[Sander]

[Blue DevilS4]

[donp]

[cl600]

[GRocky]

[Blue DevilS4]