I think you should aim to take a pic of the engine cover and calipers at the same time.

 

I did that a few posts back, BULL. I even tagged you on it.

 

@Rochester

Before the DIY you embarked in this thread, did you check out local third parties to see hat they'd charge?

Here's one I found close to me: https://www.sdmotoring.com/About/Pho...liper-Painting

$625 out the door, but you need to leave the car at their shop for 3 days.

The estimate is based on the following:

• Remove and Reinstall
• A color is selected that can be easily obtained (Red and Yellow are the most popular according to these guys)
  • They use high quality caliper paint
• They do not rebuild the brakes or change pads, just hand sand rotors, mask and 2-step paint process.
  • They do apply a clear coat on top of the color
  • They charge extra for stickers, but will apply the ones provided
  • They can sand blast and powder coat as well if an secondary set of rotors is provided

Its alot less than I had originally thought it would be. Hell, I spend nearly this much per month at Costco.

When would a caliper typically require rebuilding? That's definitely a plus for the method you described.

On Platinum Silver, I really like the darker reds

 

I started this project intending to powder coat. And I think anyone will tell you that blasting & powder coating is the better method. Even though I've seen pics of some beautifully painted calipers that were just primed and sprayed. I'm no expert on paint, but I'm pretty sure the quality wouldn't last over the years. It certainly wouldn't be as strong against damage or flaking.


Long ago (8 years?), I found a local shop that would paint the calipers while on the car, with the car on the lift for an overnight. They would clean, prime, paint, decal and clear coat, for $650. The most significant effort was the masking, because everything was done while on the car. The shop was professional, and routinely worked on high-end cars, so it wasn't their skills that kept me from signing up, it was the tech of spray-painting instead powder coat. So I kept the idea in my back pocket, and never did anything about it.

If they remove your calipers for the project, you'll get a better cleaning, and a better masking, and you won't have to worry about overspray on your car. But at the end of the day it's still spray paint.

As for decals... could they spray INFINITI back on with a stencil, before clear-coat? That would really be better.

As for the cost... I think $625 is a seriously fair ask, when you consider the time someone has to put into this project.


I don't know. I'm guessing with conventional wisdom, maybe after 100K miles? But I just pulled that out of thin air... I really have no idea. All I can say for sure is that if you have the calipers in your hands, then rebuild them. Hindsight tells me it was worth the effort.

FWIW, if you decide to powder coat, then you have to rebuild them, not an option otherwise.


Oh yeah. Dark metallic red would be gorgeous.

 

Socket, if you buy a doner set of calipers, then sell yours for the same, it's a wash on parts. And if you blast all 8 halves but only paint the 4 forward facing pieces, the cost at the powder coater will be very reasonable, $300 give or take. Add another $150 for rebuild kits, bits & baubles, and you're still under $500.

Lastly, if you DIY the swap, even better. Get a quote from your go-to shop on swapping calipers and see how that factors into your planning.

 

@Rochester *donor*. Doner is a kebab style in Germany LOL

IMHO, powdercoat is the only thing that will stand up to brake fluid. Sucks to have pretty calipers with a run in the paint because of a drip while bleeding. Spray also doesn't resist mechanical abrasion as well, unless you're doing something like Cerakote, which requires oven cure just like powder.
FWIW, I used proper caliper paint when I was trying out the red on mine, and it looked nice all of 1 week before chipping/attracting dirt that needed to be scrubbed off (which also took of the paint). I scrubbed, wire brushed, and chemically cleaned them prior to painting.

Rebuild - well, to properly powdercoat you need to blast the calipers clean; can you be 100% sure no blast media gets in the caliper? I've done it with a Mazda caliper, just changed the bleed screw afterwards and had a short bolt/washer tight in the fluid inlet hole, and then replaced the piston boots. But... at that point, you've done 2/3 of the rebuild and probably still needed to buy the rebuild kit to get the piston boots. An issue is getting all fluid out of the caliper prior to coating/baking, but it can be done.

TBH, I think the Powerstop calipers are coated assembled, looking at the separation line between caliper halves. But they've been rebuilt already at that point. :shrug:

 

Well, you can if they're laser blasted instead of media blasted. Either way, always blow the heck out of the channels with the air compressor. You definitely wouldn't want any blast media compromising the piston seals.

Honestly, I think months ago all my hand-wringing about how to properly rebuild was mostly just anxiety.

 

I'd still think there'd be soot from the dirt/paint/coating/top layer of aluminum that, even though essentially smoke, would be bad for a hydraulic system. Don't think you can convert matter directly into energy and still have a brake caliper...

 

Methinks you're over-thinking it. But from start to finish on this project, clearly I'm not an expert on any of this tech.

In the end, things worked out well enough for me. The brakes are silent, smooth and solid, and they look freaking awesome.

That doesn't mean I wouldn't have done certain things differently, with benefit of hindsight. It just means sometimes the enemy of the good is the perfect.

 

I mean, yes LOL. We're internet arm-chair quarterbacking this for sure. (I don't do sportsball so my metaphor may not work)

 

Thinking about that. My existing ones are in great shape, so easy sale. I will need to study this thread to determine the degree of difficulty for the rebuild (pin removal and special greases). Like most DIYs where you are not under pressure to get back on the road, it could be fun. The candy apple red calipers on silver would be intoxicating. I can likely replace the pads and turn rotors at the same time since its been nearly 20K miles for me on the current pads, which I could include in the rotor sale since they have life left on them....

 

Yep, it's a lot to learn and think about. No, scratch that. Up front it feels like a lot, but when you get to the end game and look back, not so much.

Good luck, Socket.

 

A few months later, the brakes continue to hold up smooth, strong and silent. And every single time I approach the car, I look at this setup with a huge sense of satisfaction. Whatever I was feeling about the cost of materials and services, time softens things, LOL. It was totally worth it.

 

Here's a shot of one of the rear brakes after installing 15mm spacers for winter.

 

The way things have gotten over winter with this car is pretty basic. There will be somewhere between 20 and 30 days where I take the car out in weather that's clear and dry. Maybe 10 days I'll take the car out in crap I'd rather not be exposed to. There will be two days that hurt my soul to be driving in. And there will be one day where I shouldn't be driving the car at all. Any car.

Those rotors are 4 years old now, with 10k on them. And I've been swapping those spacer adapters each year for 10 years.