Evo Brembos Paint or Powder Coat

[drewbird91]

Figured I'd ask around here instead of evom. I'm thinking about redoing my calipers on the evo since the brembo clear is fading. Should I do the paint or powder coat? I expect to take the car auto-x a bunch. I'd like to do black. What what be the better route paint or powder coating?

Think this is something any powder coating place can handle if disassemble them? I'd order the new seal kit too.

I've heard of some places charging $400 for disassembly, shipping, powdercoating. And that doesn't include new seals.

[EVILUTION]

I'd just paint them.

[Extremedsm]

I'd just paint them.

No you would not, you would buy different ones. :sneaky:

[TomKat]

Just borrow your calipers to Dizmm and he'll turn them black in no time.

If your car is still under warranty take it to the dealer and tell them you want new calipers because there is a small scratch in one of them.

[drewbird91]

I'm almost positive that the car isn't under warranty, how could I check? Call the dealer? It's an 04.

I saw Andy's ones at Shawno on his black Evo, I honestly thought it was a black paint job when I first saw them, then I realized they changed color that much when I looked closer.

[TomKat]

It won't be under warranty.

I'd just paint them with special caliper paint that they make. Never was impressed with powder coating.

[06evo9se]

http://forums.evolutionm.net/evo-how-requests-questions-tips/278034-painting-brembos-how.html

theres the tutorial, i also am able to make the brembo high temp sticker replacement!!!

[snoxracer183]

Never was impressed with powder coating.

What when it was first invented in 1922? What is wrong with powder coating?

[TomKat]

I read an article on powder coating years ago. Was impressed with the way it was baked on. It was supposed to chemically bond with the metal, be super durable and last forever.

Then we put on a new snow plow at work that was powder coated. That plow looked like shxt after the winter. Rusted, the paint peeled, and wore off.

Give me some examples of impressive powder coating. I've never had the - wow that is some impressive powder coating experience.

[Deadly_Evolution]

I can help with a bit of this since I have played around with it some. Hate to say it but there is no real solution. You can paint them black as thats the only color that won't change from the heat even if you use hi temp paint, but your " hi temp stickers" are a bunch of BS. Had them.. they basically started on fire after 10 minutes of track use.

[devlish]

Yeah... hi-temp stickers? :-) that's an awesome gimmick!

after 15yrs in the "sticker industry" i've yet to see something that is really hi-temp and will hold up to even half the abuse the people on this forum would put them through.

[06evo9se]

hhahahahah forgot to put my flame suit on.....sorry i quoted what the company calls them and has for years.....besides i just took the machine over from a family friend, so i took his word, claims he had many customer say the stickers held up great at high temps.....also did u put sticker just over the paint? or did u clear over the sticker?

[2fastforyou]

I just got my NEW bimbos on my car...SHINNNEEYYYY :)

[DontStopMe]

I just got my NEW bimbos on my car...SHINNNEEYYYY :)

Now I'm pissed, my evo didn't come with shiney bimbos! :P haha

[snoxracer183]

I read an article on powder coating years ago. Was impressed with the way it was baked on. It was supposed to chemically bond with the metal, be super durable and last forever.

Then we put on a new snow plow at work that was powder coated. That plow looked like shxt after the winter. Rusted, the paint peeled, and wore off.

Give me some examples of impressive powder coating. I've never had the - wow that is some impressive powder coating experience.

A snow plow essentially gets sand blasted with all the dirt, rocks debris, from plowing a parking lot...its not just fluffy white snow you push. No coating or powdercoating will or ever hold up to that. Bulldozers, plows, blades, anything of that nature will never hold a coating for very long. You're "bad experience" of powder coating was in the wrong application. Paint some wheels vs. powder coating them you'll get a wow. Suspension components, frames, springs with powder coating will outlast normal paint by a long shot.

High temp applications: you better not worry about color...its not going to last. I deal with hi-temp stuff every day at work. Brembos are not an isolated incident. Components are approaching 700-1000 degrees...Heat any coating to those levels and it will discolor/fade/etc.

[Evilatom]

I've done both and I've done all the labor myself. A few thoughts -

I've removed the calipers, sandblasted all the rust off, disassembled, powdercoated them, and then reassembled. Took way too much time with an average (home) sized blast cabinet and compressor. The powdercoat looked great for a while, but it only lasted a few years before it started to look like regular caliper - dull and rusty. I think the rust may have been mostly from layered-on brake dust. Any moisture touches it and rusts it quickly regardless of the surface that the dust sits on. Face it, who among us would remove all our wheels and scrub the powdercoated calipers to get off all the brake dust after each track event. Not going to happen.

Different car, different set of calipers - I decided to just paint them. No disassembly, and I left them in-place on the car. I hit them with a small rotary wire brush on both a dremel and a drill, wiped with degrease/prep, masked everything surrounding them with a ton of newspaper and put a plastic sheet over the car, and hit them with high-temp paint. Engine paint doesn't hold up to track temps (been there, tried it), needs to be caliper, bar-b-q, or header paint. I've had outstanding results with VHT header paint sold at Autozone on various parts of my Atom exhaust. Holds up to temps and looks great.

Paint lasted just as long as the powdercoat did before it needed a touch up/re-do, probably because of the brake dust issue here too. But the time involved do do the prep and paint was so low compared to powdercoating, I'd choose the paint route again for any car that was going to be tracked.

If the car only sees the street and you have pads that don't puke out clouds of caustic dust that rusts instantly, then powdercoating will look a bit better and will last much longer.

[drewbird91]

^Thanks, that is some great info.

Also, sounds like painting the brembo logo on is the way to go. I thought I saw some stencils around somewhere.