Painted calipers vs track duty
02-07-15, 12:07 PM
#1
Painted calipers vs track duty
Before anyone freaks, I've looked and looked thoroughly and seems like every time someone paints their calipers and is asked if it held up at the track, thread goes dark. So...To those of you that have painted your calipers AND track the car, what's the outcome. I've read many other forums that the color burns, melts, or fades, but it also seems to correspond with poor prep work or cheap product. I'm looking at getting G2 to blend LFA pearl yellow for my calipers but am hesitant due to the aforementioned issues. So, the question begs, have you painted your calipers, used the car at the track, and to what result. If it was successful, what prep work did you do, product used, and did you clear coat over high temp stickers? I don't 'really' want to spend $4k on GT calipers....but maybe I do....haha
02-07-15, 01:04 PM
#3
I used G2
left the calipers on the car and taped around it
sanded off the OEM paint and decals (just scuffed - so paint would bond) used like body shop emery paper type
washed them, and sprayed liberal amounts of brake cleaner, then washed and dried again
Mixed the G2, painted the calipers (3 or 4 coats) and used some small hair art brushes for the tight nooks and crannies
Applied custom vinyl decals, from my local mod shop (nothing fancy just regular sticker vinyl)
Spayed a high temp clear very lightly (1200 degrees) one layer after I allowed the G2 to fully dry and cure (about 36 hours)
also applied the vinyl after dry time as well, if too soon the stickers may curl as they react with the fresh paint
I track the car a few times a year, no issues at all. These are 4 or 5 hour sessions with high speeds and lots of braking...... after 3 years with the decals and the paint. I simply wash with soapy water..it remains shiny after 3 years.
Draw backs - G2 is supposed to self level as you paint. You will see some minor brush strokes and this is a disadvantage to a home kit. Professionally sprayed caliper's look way better and is the way to go, but depends on your needs and budget. No person looking at my car has ever said "hey, those brush strokes on your calipers are really annoying".
Also it will chip as service providers tend to drop the rims on the calipers - I used a small amount of G2 (about 2 years later) to touch up the areas of damage.....you can see a chip in the picture below
Digger08
left the calipers on the car and taped around it
sanded off the OEM paint and decals (just scuffed - so paint would bond) used like body shop emery paper type
washed them, and sprayed liberal amounts of brake cleaner, then washed and dried again
Mixed the G2, painted the calipers (3 or 4 coats) and used some small hair art brushes for the tight nooks and crannies
Applied custom vinyl decals, from my local mod shop (nothing fancy just regular sticker vinyl)
Spayed a high temp clear very lightly (1200 degrees) one layer after I allowed the G2 to fully dry and cure (about 36 hours)
also applied the vinyl after dry time as well, if too soon the stickers may curl as they react with the fresh paint
I track the car a few times a year, no issues at all. These are 4 or 5 hour sessions with high speeds and lots of braking...... after 3 years with the decals and the paint. I simply wash with soapy water..it remains shiny after 3 years.
Draw backs - G2 is supposed to self level as you paint. You will see some minor brush strokes and this is a disadvantage to a home kit. Professionally sprayed caliper's look way better and is the way to go, but depends on your needs and budget. No person looking at my car has ever said "hey, those brush strokes on your calipers are really annoying".
Also it will chip as service providers tend to drop the rims on the calipers - I used a small amount of G2 (about 2 years later) to touch up the areas of damage.....you can see a chip in the picture below
Digger08
Last edited by digger08; 02-07-15 at 01:16 PM.
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