I did it! Bright Red calipers..

doane2u · Apr 28, 2013

Well, I've been thinking about doing this for some time and this weekend I decided, I'm gonna do it.. Bought a can of some bright red heat proof paint at the local Reilly Auto Parts store for about $6
Not having jack stands I did one wheel at a time. I decided to paint only the caliper part and not the rest of the unit.

Removed wheel
Sanded the caliper housings, vacuumed dust and then cleaned off with denatured alcohol and dried them.
Used blue painters tape to carefully mask them off and then used rags to mask off the rest of the area.
One very light coat, than two more, ten minutes apart.
Let it dry a bit then removed the rags and tape
Replaced wheel
Will let them dry a day before driving.

The whole project took about three hours. This would have been much faster with stands as I had to wait each time between paint coats.

I like it as it is sort of subtle but aggressive looking. I'm sure I'm now ten years younger.

Here are a couple of pix of the front left:

And the rear right:

vanib · Apr 28, 2013

Matches your wheel hub cover and Sport badge. Well done.
Although I must say that it would look like sh!t on my RAV

Veliksam · Apr 28, 2013

Wow, I must say it looks very nice, just like I thought it would

That will be my next project.
I wish the front shocks were red instead of blue, then it would have been complete. I actually saw some red sport shocks for the Vanguard on Yahoo auctions Japan, unfortunately shipping would be ridiculous

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doane2u · Apr 28, 2013

Veliksam:

When I got the first front wheel off I noticed my dirty blue struts. Mine were all greasy/dirty, but it was easy to clean them up with paper towels dipped in denatured alcohol and then some brushed on alcohol and rag clean up. They are now really bright blue, but you don't see them unless you bend way down to look.
I don't think it would be that hard to mask them off and paint them a different color too while doing the calipers.

Satavtech · Apr 28, 2013

Looks good!

Veliksam · Apr 28, 2013

doane2u said:
Veliksam:

When I got the first front wheel off I noticed my dirty blue struts. Mine were all greasy/dirty, but it was easy to clean them up with paper towels dipped in denatured alcohol and then some brushed on alcohol and rag clean up. They are now really bright blue, but you don't see them unless you bend way down to look.
I don't think it would be that hard to mask them off and paint them a different color too while doing the calipers.

I'm sure it won't be too difficult but I'm not sure how well the paint would stick to that surface?

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doane2u · Apr 28, 2013

veliksam said:
I'm sure it won't be too difficult but I'm not sure how well the paint would stick to that surface?

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You would have to sand them, that's for sure. And you would only be able to paint the side facing you, but you do have pretty good access to them. It was easy to clean them. You could also use some liquid sandpaper (paint d-glosser solvent that acts like sand paper) for areas that are hard to sand.

I actually bought two cans of that bright red "caliper heat proof spray paint. I probably used less than 1/2 can. There would have been plenty left to do the struts.

doane2u · Apr 28, 2013

vanib said:
Matches your wheel hub cover and Sport badge. Well done.
Although I must say that it would look like sh!t on my RAV

They have other colors too. How about blue or yellow or ?

JuneBug · Apr 28, 2013

I think I'll paint my calipers silver to match the body color. Oh wait......

RTexasF · Apr 28, 2013

Nice touch, well done.

doane2u · Apr 29, 2013

JuneBug said:
I think I'll paint my calipers silver to match the body color. Oh wait......

Now you're going to have to paint your car a different color... how about bright red? I've got a full can of caliper red I'll sell you cheap and it's good for desert travel..

I did it! Bright Red calipers..

doane2u

vanib

Veliksam

doane2u

Satavtech

Veliksam

doane2u

doane2u

JuneBug

RTexasF

doane2u

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