Behind the times, as usual.
 

I'm sure this is very old news to all you young guys 'n' girls, but today a very good buddy learned he can wrap his calipers! He is awaiting shipment of his '16 Porsche Carrerra 4 Targa and he desperately wants red calipers. The car is blue, but that's cool, right? ANYWAY, my S2000 is NFR and red calipers would be OFF THE HIZZLE! Do y'all still say that? Back in my day it was "bitchen" or 'boss" even before Ford stole our adjective. Specifically, Larry Shinoda stole it, but that's a story for another thread.

Ahem..where was I? Oh yeah, wrapping my calipers. My wife has me on a tight leash so it has to be somewhat reasonable. I've looked at a couple of videos and I am certain I would totally f@@k it up. Any suggestions? One video was with the caliper removed, another on the car. Any and all input is very much appreciated.

Thank you kindly,

Bob Moss

Pics
 

Pics

and I'm wondering about this wrap versus the heat.

Barbie For Boys. :)

I painted my brake calibers black so I wouldn't see them or call attention to them. Why anyone wants red or blue or yellow brake parts still astounds me. But it's nice to have choices (even if they're tacky).

-- Chuck

Well, Chuck...
 

Thanks for the totally unnecessary, snarky response. I very much (don't) appreciate it.

Wrapping calipers is possible and frankly not that hard. I recommend taking them off the car and doing them in two parts. It will allow you to get a heat gun to the more tricky areas. I recommend doing a slight prestretch on the vinyl before laying it on the calipers. That way when you add heat to it, it acts like shrink wrap and helps conform to the shape. Not to mention if you do it while its on the car you have a significantly higher chance of contaminating the sticky part of the vinyl and that will cause issues. Also cleaing the caliper is VERY IMPORTANT. If you dont clean the caliper the vinyl will literally just fall off.

As far as longevity, expect it to last maybe a year at most. The heat actually helps the Vinyl conform to the caliper even more as by normal driving you will be creating a process called post heating which destroys the memory properties of the vinyl and allows it to conform to complex shapes without pulling back. However prolong exposure and dust to that area will eventually cause it to dry out and crack.


All that being said, painting the caliper will be cheaper and easier and will last MUCH longer. My calipers are painted red (mine is also NFR) and my wheels are painted white so i think it looks awesome. GL!

Also just realized you were in Livermore. I'm moving to Fremont this weekend but let me know if you want any help with the wrap/paint process. If i can spare the time i'll help you out.

I heard Rick wrapped his calipers in carbon fiber vinyl.

I suppose that would be fine on a street car, but on track that stuff is going to melt all over the place unless it can withstand sustained temps over 300+ degrees.

I don't track, autocross, drift, drag or any other brake-abusing activities. I am an old wobbly guy, in fact. And, if you've checked out the earlier post by 'ol Chuck from Cleveland (nice place to not be), I have abhorrent taste and should immediately forget even the notion of painting or wrapping my calipers. Time for my meds now...

Bob

Lol