I Finally finished my brake project and broke my car out of its winter storage... thank God! This spring weather has been killing me. Here are some of my thoughts and pics on how it went. Things you should know...

my car was stored in a friend's garage in Maine, 70 miles from my apartment (one way). This is the main reason why it took me nearly 4 weeks to paint the rotors and calipers. (Forgetting to buy another 50 cent paint brush can set you back another week!) I decided to paint my brakes versus powder coat or metal plating, primarily because I am a NOVICE mechanic and dismantling the caliper's rubber seals and brake line seemed intimidating. Prior to this little project I have never changed a set of brake pads (I don't even change my own oil). The decision to paint was difficult for me, because like you... I want my car to look perfect. There are plenty of helpful threads in this forum where stook owners have shared their experiences in similar projects... and these were extremely helpful.

IMO, the proper way to improve the appearance of your brakes IS to either powder coat or metal plate them. Cdelena has done this and has posted some excellent pics somewhere in this forum. Powder coating or plating comes down to either your mechanical experience or money (i.e. do it yourself or pay someone else). In my research I found that both of these methods could be performed on 4 calipers for under $200... this is relatively cheap if you remove and install the calipers yourself. Other owners have bought new off-market rotors and even new calipers to make their stooks look perfect. IMO, if you have the money... this is the ultimate solution!

The Operation:
The cost of this project was a little high, but only because I started with no tools (I had to buy everything including a Crescent wrench). I did use the Helm official Honda manual ($60) which was very helpful and includes the torque specs of every bolt. I started out with a 2-ton Walmart jack, but traded up to a 3-ton Craftsman jack and stands ($100). I must say that this is the jack of champions! It has a wider foundation, a leverage extension, and lifting pad that is 5 times larger than the Walmart toy jack.
-Another pair of 3-ton stands ($16)
-Kryoton(?) high temp aluminum ($5) spray paint (1200 degree limit)
-Duplicolor high temp black ($5) spray paint (semi-glossy with intermittent 1200 degree limit)

Removing the calipers was very easy. It would have been helpful to know that the 2 bolts holding the outside caliper part, on to the car were torqued to 80 ft-lbs. I couldn't get them to budge and had to stand on the wrench to pop the bolts lose (not the preferred way). You could rest the outside caliper (part with the piston) on anything that will prevent it's own weight from stressing the hydraulic line. I used buckets and styrofoam. Because I did not disconnect the brake line, I had to paint this part by hand. The other part of the caliper was spray painted and turned out really well. Hand painting required several coats.

It's been said that the metal surface of the calipers looks as if they just dropped right out of the foundry mold. This is true. I used a dremmel tool to smooth the rough and porous surfaces. I found the grinding stone and the sanding drum bits of the dremmel to be the most useful. IMO, smoothing the caliper surface is not necessary for painting but will dramatically improve the look.

I also painted the outer and inner surfaces of the rotors. I prepped the outer edge with the dremmel and sanded the inner edge by hand (3M sanding block $3, 200-grit sanding paper $2). The inner edge that I am referring to is only about a 1/8" of an inch wide but is rusted and very noticeable.

While painting the left rear rotor, I let paint run down the inside of the rotor hat(?). The center hat(?) of the rotor is black with a nice factory finish. I decided to paint this part aluminum but hand painting this part (which I tried) just didn't cut it. I actually spray painted it indoors and had to mask off the entire car! The result was better than expected.

Reassembly was very easy (to my surprise). After driving the car for a few miles, any excess paint on the rotors was removed by the pads and friction. The end result is that the rotors show no rust. The aluminum of the rotor blends in nicely with the aluminum of the factory wheels. I am very happy with the results and took pics of the entire process.

I am attending a driving school at Watkins Glenn in July, so that should test the paint for its heat limit. If the paint holds, I will be extremely happy.

What do you think?

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?...8690&a=12876947

 

Hi Tim,

Great job!

Congratulations on your upcoming graduation.

Are you going to work right away or grad school?

Not much S2000 action around MIT, a silver one once in a while. One kid has a nice older red NSX though.

Weather has been really great the last 2 weeks, I hope you are having some fun.

 

Tim.....What a great job you did - especially for an "amateur"!.....You've rejuvenated my interest in re-painting my red calipers - properly!.....I also love the way you finished the rotors......No more rust!

Thanks for the pics and info.....Very helpful.....You can now consider yourself a pro.

 

Tim,

Excellent job! I can't wait to see them in person, hopefully, this weekend. You just convinced me to do mine.

 

Clutch,

I've only driven it into work twice now, so you might see me around in the future. I am moving soon so I will concentrate on getting a new job after that.

1Y2KS2K,

if you have your own garage, find some time to do the rotors! I am really impressed with the way it turned out.

I can't wait to show some other stook owners.

 

VERY nicely done Tim! Was thinking about doing the same, but I'm not mechanically inclined either, so I was unsure about doing it myself. Doesn't sound like it was to difficult. It really makes the brakes look sharp!

 

Nice job, they look really good. I hope your rotors hold up better than mine.. I found track use just generated too much heat for the high temp header paint I used. Yours may be better.. I won

 

S2KFanatic,

If you have a garage, I think its a necessity. The rusty look drives me crazy. It really wasn't that difficult. At one point I was in awe because I had the car on stands with all 4 brakes torn apart... and I was responsible.

 

Tim S2k-

About how many hours did the project take you? (Just painting time...not including dry time / disassembly / reassembly)


ps. they look really good! anyone else who has done this, will it last? That's one of the first things I want to do to my car..

[Edited by Nside on 05-10-2001 at 11:21 PM]

 

Well, if you do not include drying time, disassembly/reassembly... I would say 7 hours.

- 4 Hours for grinding (1 hr. each caliper)
- 2 hours for masking off the exposed rubber parts of the calipers and masking off the entire car (to paint the rotors). I cut up some clear bags and covered every inch of exposed paint. As you can see in the pics, I also used my dust cover (ran out of bags). This is very important if you are going to be spraying any paint near your car.
- 1 hour for painting (for 1st coat)

I used 4 coats on the calipers and 2 on the discs.

Hand painting paint from a spray can is a serious pain in the butt! The grinding time can go either way (plus or minus) depending on your taste.

I hope this helps. When I look at the before and after pics I just can't believe it. It's the best mod I've done.