Anyone had success in painting Calipers at home I was going to have a crack at it while on the car but without disconnecting brake lines.

Thinking a coat hanger in the wheel arch to support tape the important bits & Paint.

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PrOuDlY aSkInG qUeStIoNs FoR uR aMuEsMeNt

Thats what I did. I wrapped a plastic bag around the rotor then rotated it through the caliper. Used the engine paint spray can from Supercheap.

Mine are red and I have to say I wish they were regular silver, I feel original looks are best these days

I did mine off the car with VHT's caliper paint. Looked pretty good.
But be warned, brake fluid lifts it off real easy. IMO 2 pack would be better.

[edit] here's a pic-
Note the DrMini non-split pins made from 1/8" welding electrode, 80mm long. I made these after the `Chinese cheese' 3mm splitpins broke/bent? then fell out taking 1 brake pad too.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Why not just undo the two bolts holding the caliper to the hub. just undo those and you can move the whole caliper out away from other things and more easily able to paint it.


that way you dont even have to disconnect the brake lines. Thats how i would do it.

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Take them off the car completely, clean them with Brake clean very thoroughly. Let them air dry and warm up in the sun then use VHT caliper paint, there is nothing better.2-3 light coats are preferable to a single heavy coat. If they are not perfectly clean in the first palce you are wasteing your time.
McFarkle

Totally agree with this - do the job once but do it properly the first time. It also doesn't hurt to bleed the brakes and freshen up the brake fluid in the calipers and give the caliper pistons a bit of a workout when you reassemble the whole thing.

Mike

Yeh that's what I meant with the hanger to hold up the caliper in the arch. The brake fluid is fresh so there's no need to completely remove.

Mike funny u mention it I was thinking red

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PrOuDlY aSkInG qUeStIoNs FoR uR aMuEsMeNt

If you paint them off the car you can then cure the VHT paint in the oven, which makes it much more resistant to brake fluid. 93°C for 20 minutes is what VHT says. Thats still a lot cooler than they operate at so it won't damage the seals. Speco Thomas' website says to heat to 120° for 20 mins.

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

If its was me doing it:

1. Drive car round to get some heat into calipers.
2. Remove wheel, mask the crap out of everything.
3. Clean rag, wipe everything down to remove dust and crap, make sure they're dry.
4. Hit the calipers with the spray paint.


I know it seems like a dodgy way of doing it, but I've done things properly before and at the end of the day the paint will always come off again, so taking the easy way out once every 6 months is fine by me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3mhq_BrnU0

i know its not a mini but its the same concept

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77 mini sunshine: the slow build continues
http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=70699

While the calipers are the centre of attention why not give them a rebuild with new rubber seals and maybe pistons if they need it while you are at it.

No point in having fancy looking calipers if they don't work properly or if they have 40 year old seals.

Good call... While mine aren't new new they're well b4 their use by date.

Thanks 4 the pic doc . Nice pins!

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PrOuDlY aSkInG qUeStIoNs FoR uR aMuEsMeNt

Thanks!
Like Morris says rekit them first if the seals are old. I painted these straight after fitting new seals.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Did the rear drums get painted same colour doc

I was thinking red calipers but thought red drums would be balls.... Mayb I might do as mike didn't and go silver 4 both cals & drums.

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PrOuDlY aSkInG qUeStIoNs FoR uR aMuEsMeNt

Nope I just did the calipers so you could see them through the spokes...
Sick of the colour though, I'll use black next time.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.