Finally had a new spline lug ship via Amazon last night after 2 weeks of waiting! Burnt some midnight and early morning energy into finishing the 4th and last caliper! Sorry she's a little dusty, planning to wash her Saturday evening!

I am starting up on the hospital floors again Monday, so I wanted to finish up a few projects before then!
1. Refinish grill. Had painted it in the midnight grille style in 2016, but now the chrome bits are chipping from terrible NJ roads and highway miles. Planning on painting the upper and lower piece either hyper silver, gun metal, or paint match. What do you think?
2. Re finish interior door pulls. I have the 2008 Wasabi trim. Mine is an early production model 7/2007, so they start deteriorating at the clear. I had done them in 2016, but used a high temp clear thinking that the high summer temps would cause the clear to fade. But the high temp clear actually ended up yellowing and cracking. So will sand refinish, and shoot with Duplicolor Perfect Match (what I have left from the brake job)
3. Order new roof molding.
4. Contemplating a roof spoiler in gloss black, was thinking of doing it in a Mythos Black Metallic (2018 Audi A4 color) so it matches the metallic flakes in the roof wrap! Looking for a low profile one, not like on that curves upwards like the Stillen. Any advice?
5. Re-installing color matched bumper plugs.
6. Removed my front tow-hook relocated plate for a cleaner look a while ago. Will re-install the mesh cover over the tow hook.
7. Cleaning up the OEM Sport rims (wash, wax, tire shine) and install my new wall mounted tire rack. I had not anticipated getting called back to the floors this early, so was actually planning to DIY refinish them in gloss black metallic (curb rash repair) and use them as my winter set!

12am, too excited! It sucks that for some reason, the front calipers were dented and chipped. I dont remember them being this bad. I suspect they were dropped when I had the calipers rebuilt by the dealership in October -__-
Tried to make the most of it by sanding it down. Still visible, but much better than how it was!

This morning after shooting clear.



Wanted a 2004 G35 with the Brembo brake package in Diamond Graphite, finally after 16 years of that dream, I've come close to accomplishing that feat through this car!

 

Awsome clean job!
Love the caliper color.

 

Same. The more I see pics like this, DIY even... damn. Really makes me want to paint my calipers.

What's the paint used here? Did he say already?

 

Thank you guys! Listed it above, but I used VHT Engine Metallic Paint in Burnt Copper (4 coats) and Duplicolor Perfect Match clear coat (3 coats). I thoroughly cleaned the brakes with dish soap and tooth brush to get the small crevices and roughed up the OEM paint on the caliper with 1000grit sand paper. I would definitely wait 1 hour after the last base coat until it is dry to the touch because otherwise the decal will sink while applying it

I was always afraid of doing it, but it really was not that bad! Id say it took me 1.5 hrs-2 hrs. working time per caliper. May be faster but my OCD kicked in hyperdrive haha.

 

Did you do the back side as well?

How was the overspray situation?

Any tips about taping off the area?

How long did you wait between coats?

Did you apply the decals between the paint and the clear coat?

Did you sand off the OEM decal, or just paint over it?

 

Over spray was not bad, I had covered the fender-liner with "fall leaves recycling bags" cut in half (not pictured). If you choose not to mask off the fender liners, do not do it on a windy day, as you can literally see the pain whift away from you. One lesson I learned through that was that as it whiffs away, it lands on the ground. So I would most definitely cover up the ground with a few garbage bags/recycling bags to protect your driveway.

As per masking everything else but the caliper, I used one kitchen bag t cover the shocks, one to cover the A Arm, and one to cover the rotor.

I used this tutorial to cover the rotor. I went a little OCD with the taping and bag coverage (pictures below) So I started by taping underneath the caliper on the rotor helped create a clean line and prevented any paint seepage onto the rotor, like how it is in this picture here:


I then covered the rotor as described by that video. To prevent the bag from lifiting up with the wind or movement in general, I again taped down the rotor where it meets the caliper, sliding appx 50% of the painters tape underneath the caliper so that the bag stays nice and flat and you don't miss the edge of the caliper. It'll look like this:


Heres what it looked like while it was fully masked:



To prevent over spray while working on the front calipers, while getting the frontward facing edge where the brake shims are, I turned the wheel full lock towards me, so I can see the whole surface plus parts of the back of the caliper. I added the base coat here first in light coats so I can get the wheels straight while working on the visible side. This also helps prevent runs I feel because you have greater control in painting the side which would not be accessible if the wheel was straight. With the wheel turned all the way towards me, the front of the caliper literally faces me haha. This is how it looked right as I was about to start painting:



This will give you a good idea of how I decided to mask the caliper off. I decided to mask off all the bolts, and the back end of the caliper where the brake line goes in. My rationale: 1 nobody sees it, I tested with the rim on what the last point of visibility is on the caliper. 2. When the brakes need to be changed or flushed, or caliper must be removed for any reason, I didn't want the paint on the bolt to interconnect with the paint on the caliper because when it is removed, it would just lead to future cracking issues/clear coat failure.

As soon as I painted the front of the caliper, I would turn the wheel straight and do the "visible" face. As per the rears, since you cannot "turn the wheel" it is not as bad of an angle to shoot with a can. Because the caliper is much smaller, you can easily fit back there and get good coverage. I implemented the same strategy where I taped off the caliper bolts and the brake lines. It is critical while painting the front of the rear caliper that you mask off the back wheel well and the struts because this position while spraying leaves your vulnerable to getting over spray in the rear of the back fender liner!

In terms of prep work, I did my sanding after all these pics. I did a little prior, but most of it was done after masking. I did this because I wanted to be sure of where I was going to tape off and not destroy the finish on what I was not going to paint. The Infiniti logo is only slightly raised. 5-10 passes over it with 1000 grit got rid of it for me, (you can still see it but it is not raised and feels smooth with the caliper).

For the base coat, did 3-4 coats. The first coat must be VERY light, like seriously a tack coat. Just lil sprinkles, gave it 2 min, then after that tried to get 15 % coverage. Waited 10 min between coats. When I got to my 3rd coat, I waited 15, just because I did not want to risk runs. I realized the wetter the paint is before applying the next coat, the higher probability of a run. When I got a run on my first caliper, the VHT paint does not leave a run mark, but just rather a bubble where it pools. So when I find where it pools, I took a cotton swab, and used osmosis to let it soak into the cotton. This is all without it touching the caliper, just enough contact with the edge of the paint run bubble. And once it is gone, from 12 inches away, hit that area with a little mist. It helped cover it up REALLY well, you cannot even tell there was a run there.

I waited 1 hour until the base coat was dry before applying the decal. In a non visible area, press on it. If it gives way, is soft, or you can see your finger print, Stop, do not apply the decal. This ensures that when you lay the decal, it does not sink in, or when you remove the backing, the paint does not lift with it. (Saw lots of youtube fails, so I did not want to be one of them!) I think the dry time is much faster on a day when it is bright and sunny. Try and avoid a humid day as the paint has a more difficult time sticking on the tack coat, and plus moisture plus new paint could lead to cracks and bubbles!

I sprayed the clear coat afterwards, as soon as I applied the decal. I waited 5 min between each coat of clear.

Ive read 100s of DIYS on this forum and on others and watched at least 50 DIY videos on this just to make sure I dont screw up and what I learned is that it really all is about light coats and that the caliper paint is quite forgiving! If you feel like your surface is unsmooth on base coat, just take 1000 grit, sand it down smooth, clean off real well with compressed air, water, let it dry, and start anew. Also patience, try and do one caliper at a time. Lot of people messed up doing it on the car by rushing between each caliper it seems. Each caliper becomes your "pride and joy" so you end up doing whatever it takes to make it look as best as it can rather than how fast i can get it done! I got lucky that I did not have to drive the car anywhere for last 2 months so I used that as a way to "take my time with it"

I know its not powder coated, but I was quoted 1200 at a "reputed" shop near me. NOPE. I am hoping this paint job lasts at least 3-4 years through my residency & fellowship when at that point in time, I can make her a bigger project car rather than a daily haha.

Hope this helps! Feel free to shoot me a DM if you have any questions or just reply here haha!!

 

Wow. So much detail. Good man.

 

T'was your build and Zahy's build that inspired my OEM+ build haha, just trying to keep her as clean as possible

Cannot wait, I purchased an OEM car cover from someone here! Always wanted one of those! (I'm a huge sucker for memorabilia, my car did not come with a Window Sticker so I made one haha)

If anyone has any sales brochures or Dealership posters for the 08, lmk!!!

 

Washed and waxed! Took a little cruise up through Bear Mountain today! She drove amazing! Really would love to get my headlights done with Halos with dark black chrome reflectors mirroring the 2010+ headlights to freshen up the front end up more and give it an OEM+ look! Would love to do a DIY, just afraid to bite the bullet haha

 

Beautiful setup. The headlights aren't that bad to DIY. Just use the piles of info on the forum. I did mine and was very happy with the outcome. Sadly it was after paying someone to do them that did a shotty job.

 

Appreciate it man! Those headlights look great! Am considering doing em in July DIY as my driver side ballast has been acting up (flicker/cutting out). Did you put them in the oven or use the box method w/ heat gun?

 

Thanks! Put them in the oven. Trusted the info i found on here and all was good to go.

 

Installed KH3 Black Obsidian “F Style” roof spoiler. Fitment is perfect and so is the paint quality! Not bad for 60 bucks! Thoughts? 🎤
Before:

After:

 

Looks good in these shots. I much prefer the low profile design. Got close-ups?

Your exhaust tips are looking kind of sad, buddy. Is your rear desk spoiler coming loose?

 

I was looking for a flat one that did not lift up actually! This one in the pictures looked like it was exactly what I was looking for without shelling out $140 so took the gamble hahaha

Yeah the tips 🥺 legitimately have tried everything to brighten em up but they don’t stay shiny for more than a few miles. The bevel is also too thin tbh. Perhaps I will replace the tips someday 👀 It’s the Fast Intentions Intimidator CBE.