I like most everybody else do not like seeing the rotors rust. I also dislike the rust colored ring that will form on the inner surface of the wheel as the rusty water sprays out of the cooling vanes.

I replace my rotors every spring because of driving schools. So I paint them prior to installation. This is a huge pain, painting each vane by hand, but in the end, I will smile all summer when I look inside the wheels.

This silver heat paint has held up great, it even takes the heat from track events. I bought it years ago from Groit's Garage. Although they no longer sell it, there must be good silver heat paint out there. This was labeled as good up to 1,450 degrees.

After the painting was all done, the fun part was baking them in the oven at 400 degrees to cure the paint. And let me just say, frying onions afterwards sure helped get rid of that nasty odor...

 

Great post, Triple-H, and nice pics. You really spent a lot of time on this, and it shows. I couldn't stand the rust on my rotors, so I painted mine black last week. My car is a few months old, so there was surface rust on the edges, and everywhere that wasn't painted or exposed to the brake pads. Using steel wool, I cleaned them up and spray painted them with black manifold paint. They don't look as nice as yours, but it was fast, and the black color hides any rust that may bleed through from the vents.

 

Dang, I had been wondering where that ring came from Makes sense that it doesn't show up on the rears.

Thanks,

 

Makes you wonder why Honda doesn't do this in the first place. The rusty look is definitely unsightly, and it's really annoying to have rusty water drip on the innards of newly-cleaned wheels.

Thanks for the idea, Hood. Good thinkin'.

 

Thanks guys!

Although slalom44 is 100% right, it did take a while, what bothered me more than the time, was the stink in my apartment after I backed them in the oven.

nsx555, my pleasure, always happy to turn someone onto an idea that will rob them of hours and hours of their life....

Chazmo, I so completely agree with you. There has got to be a simple coating or metal treatment that could be done for very little money that would not allow the rust to get started! The other thing too, as they get all rusty and the rust starts to flake, the airflow has got to be reduced because of the rough surface.

I'll post some pics once I get them on. I figure the silver edge and the silver calipers ought to look nice peaking out from the black spokes on my wheels.

 

I mask the swept surfaces and spray mine.. I think it is faster. I then bake them in the oven to heat cure the paint.. and yeah it does stink a little.

 

Polished stainless steel rotors on the way!

 

What're you thinkin' ballpark price, Rick? I won't hold you to it, but I'm curious.

 

I don't know yet, and won't until they arrive, hopefully soon. This is an experiment, since I can't find any examples of stainless rotors made for a car (several types are made for motorcycles).

I am working on this with Brad Wight, with the reluctant cooperation of The Brake Man.

Brad and I are confident the stainless rotors will withstand the heat cycles of intense driving. The only question concerns possible loss of braking effectiveness, since stainless steel has a self-lubricating quality that some people think will diminish braking efficiency.

We have chosen a grade of stainless that we think will work best for rotors. It machines very well, has the heat tolerance and hardness comparable to normal steel rotors, and will not rust (polishing it makes corrosion of any kind very unlikely).

We'll see if this idea is feasible once we get the rotors installed on my car and do some driving that stresses the brakes heavily. My hope is to have them installed on my car in time for the Outer Banks Run in early May. The run down to North Carolina and back will be a very good test for street use of these rotors.

 

Fascinating, Rick. No one sells stainless rotors?? I'm astonished. Yeah, maybe there's a reason, Rick. Keep us posted.

I'm really not planning any mods for "Neb," but this is something I'd seriously consider. The rust really bugs me. As the others indicated, I think there are many of us who feel this way.