I am one of those guys that did this once already by just cleaning the calipers while they were still mounted on the car. It didn't hold up, so now I'm doing it the right way. First, you have to get the calipers off the car. Take a look at my Front Brake Job thread for how to do that.

Once you get the calipers off, take them apart.



Remove the bleed plug and separate the two halves. Save the pad retainer clips. There are two parts I recommend you DON'T take apart, which are the piston and the slide pins (not sure if there is a better name for those). These are basically the rubber parts. If you break the seals on those, you are just asking for leaks. So don't do that. Compress the pistons all the way into the calipers to bleed out as much old fluid as you can. Plus it will keep water out when you clean.

There is a left and right caliper, but the parts are stamped, so you won't loose track of which is which. The is a "L" and a "R" on the piston cylinder. The letter next to the bleed drain hole is the one you use.



Now clean them up. Our stuff is aluminum, so you can literally clean them in a sink with dishwashing detergent if you want to. I have spared you a picture of what doing dishes looks like because I figured you all know how to do that already. But here is the inventory of parts afterward drying off.



Next, get out the drill and wire wheel off those calipers. Be thorough! Really scrub the crap out of them. Get in the nooks and cranys.



Afterward, rinse them off again in clean water. Now, for most people, you are done with your prep work. I am going to offer one more suggestion that is NOT for the average guy. I also acid etched the calipers in a diluted solution of Muratic acid. This stuff eats aluminum, but used correctly, cleans it beautifully for paint. If you don't know how to use the stuff, don't. Advanced technique only.

At this point, I need to let stuff dry a bit before I painted it. So I had some spaghetti and watched "24".

Alright, start painting.



You can do as many coats as you like. There is more then enough paint in the little jar that Duplicolor gives you to just go nuts. Remember, recoat with an hour, or you have to wait for 24 hours. I did a simple two coats since I have a good clean base metal.



Let them dry overnight. Then reassemble on the bench. Look at my brake job how-to again for torque specs.



Reinstall the calipers. Once you have done that, you might have some touch up work to do. Go ahead now and hit the spots that need it.



Throw the wheels back on, you're done!

 

screw that. thats too much work. i just painted em still on the car. lol

 

yeah...what he said!!

 

Re post after they have been on for a while and let us know how they hold up. I want to do mine, but i don't want to re do them because they peeled. I am considering Powdercoating, but if proper prep works I would rather do them myself. Cheaper and faster!
Dennis

 

How are these holding up??

 

I would paint them while on the car also because when you put them back they are going to get all dirty and if you do take them off make sure you let that paint dry long enough because then you'll have fingerprints all over, I learned the hard way. Good luck!

 

I painted mine with out taking them out, and they're doing fine.

 

They have held up perfectly in fact. Not one flake of paint has chipped off. It's been a year now.

 

These brakes are toast as soon as you squirt some brake cleaner on it. I'd be keener on getting a proper brake painting kit.

 

can u spray paint them too?

 

I really need to do this to mine... I painted them on the car (using the Duplicolor kit), and now they're flaking really badly. Kinda looks like crap. If I just had a little more time to do this...

 

You could, but it won't hold up well. It won't be long before its flaking off in chunks.