IS350 brake calipers information
09-26-11, 07:56 AM
#2
It was very interesting to see that my calipers match the buggy at PetSmart... WTF
09-26-11, 09:32 AM
#6
**** Sit the entire car on jack stands and take off all the wheels at the same time. Don't do wheel by wheel or it will take you all year complete...
1. Paint only the metal parts of the caliper itself. Tape off the rest. Do not paint any rubber as you will dry it out and causing it to break apart over time. You can also aim to not paint the brake pads, rotors, and the little pins holding the pads in to. If you decide to take the whole caliper off the hub (I don't recommend this unless you know what you are doing) DO NOT PAINT INSIDE THE CALIPER WHERE THE BRAKE PADS SIT.
2. Don't use the ****ty brush that comes with the paint kit. Use a small sponge brush from Home Depot because the caliper paint will pull the threads out of a regular paint brush leaving you with little hairs in the paint.
3. Put on NUMEROUS coats. Oddly, the paint doesn't always stick in some places to the caliper. So I did roughly 7-8 even coats to cover the entire caliper.
4. Let the caliper sit for around 30-60 minutes BETWEEN coats. This is a MUST because when you try and apply more coats of paint, the sponge brush will pull the layers of paint off with it. You will get what I mean when you start painting. The longer you wait between coats, the better the paint will look and easier it will apply.
5. Buy more than one sponge brush as the caliper painting takes a toll on the condition of the sponge brush after a few coats.
6. DO NOT CLEAR COAT IT OR APPLY "Lexus" sticker to the caliper until it has fully dried (1-5 days). I have done calipers about 5 times over the years and if you are impatient on doing this, you will have a ****ty result in a year from now. If you tried to apply the stickers the same day as the caliper paint, then as you spray clear coat then the clear coat will melt the paint and cause it to drip down on your precious white "lexus" stickers. IN other words, WAIT on the stickers and clear coat.
Here is the kit I bought:
Last edited by dackp143; 09-26-11 at 09:37 AM.
09-26-11, 02:20 PM
#10
http://www.motogfx.com/lexus/
Look for "IS350 Caliper Decals" or "IS250 Caliper Decals" depending on the version of your car!
09-26-11, 02:31 PM
#11
Pretty much man, I hand painted the calipers but used aerosol to clear coat them. Honestly, I have used just regular clear coat from Home Depot before with ZERO problems. If you prefer though, head over to AutoZone or a similar company and spend a little extra and use Engine Enamel Clear Coat like this:
