I just bought a 1995 SC400, and it has a lot of rust on the rear brake drums. It wouldn't be too much of a problem except it came with 17inch voxx rims that show everything. Does anyone have a solution to removing the rust and KEEPING IT OFF? I painstakingly polished off all the rust and then after a lot of rain it is right back two weeks later.

 

buy new/used ones???

 

well after polishing them shuold you use a anti-rust solution? or watever its called.. treat it

 

You can get nice upgrade for your brakes for 125 zinc coded.

 

Go buy some OEM Brembo Roters!! They are zink plated and are cheap! You can get some driller or crossed ones aswell!

 

Its not the rotors that are rusted its the drum that sticks out from the rotor

 

That's called the rotor hat.
Most cars have this condition, and my fix is to paint with Hot Temp Engine paint whenever I have the wheels off.
I use the slilver color, as shown below:

 

just clean off as much rust as you can, then paint. i used some black engine paint. looks a helluva lot better than the rust

 

I bought some zinc-coated rotors. It looks much better.

However, engine paint is absolutely the way to go. The caliper will grind off the paint along the circle that is used to stop the vehicle, but the rusted portion will remain whatever color you paint it for a long time.

I suggest going right past the 500* to the 1200* engine paint. The color choices are limited, but I am certain it is sold in flat black, which would be the correct choice of color if you ask me. It would look subtle and clean.

 

wait.. so you paint the WHOLE rotor?

 

just enough to cover the part that is rusted. the brakes will clean off overspray.

 

I would recommend taping off the part of the rotor that will be touching the pads... letting the pads remove the paint could result in some nasty squeeking that may last a long time, especially if you're using 1200F paint...

 

Well, they could, but they don't.
I used to go through a lot of trouble with the masking myself- then I said the hell with it and let the pads do it.
Be assured that any contest between paint and brake pads is over the first or second time you apply the brakes.
Brakes do squeak, but it sure isn't the paint causing it.

 

Do you take off the whole rotor, or just the wheel to pait them?

 

Obviously, in the pic above, the rotor is off, so I took that opportunity to paint everything.

But I have also painted the rotor while it is mounted on the hub (image below).
In that case, the only parts I try to mask are those metal brackets that clip onto the pads, the shiny anti-rattle clips and the black rubber bellows.

In my experience, with the color I have chosen, that's all that needs to be masked.
Your mileage may vary.