Brake caliper refurb

[LeeJV]

Hi all,
I picked up My C63 507 a few weeks ago, On close inspection I noticed that the lacquer was peeling on all the calipers, I assume its due to age and careless technicians changing the brake fluid and not cleaning them off properly!!!
So today I spent 10hrs cleaning and refurbing them, I took off all the peeling lacquer, re sprayed and sealed them, they now look like brand new again!


Sorry for the incorrect axle stands, they were just a secondary precaution, I did have a proper Jack and Chocks.

 

[LeeJV]

Still have a few things to do yet, the car goes into a body shop in a few weeks time to have some stone chips sorted that had been badly repaired, then the new side decals can go on.
And then back to her full glory.

 

[SmartAmg]

Like um a lot!

 

[Pct100]

Hi all,
I picked up My C63 507 a few weeks ago, On close inspection I noticed that the lacquer was peeling on all the calipers, I assume its due to age and careless technicians changing the brake fluid and not cleaning them off properly!!!
So today I spent 10hrs cleaning and refurbing them, I took off all the peeling lacquer, re sprayed and sealed them, they now look like brand new again!


Sorry for the incorrect axle stands, they were just a secondary precaution, I did have a proper Jack and Chocks.

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Hi, Mine are exactly like yours were!,both the hubs and callipers look really good now. Was it easy to take the callipers off?.
What paint did you use please?
Regards
Paul

 

[LeeJV]

Hello Paul.

The calipers were only peeling on the faces, I think this was due to brake fluid changes etc where the excess fluid had not been removed properly and after a time it will attack and breakdown the clearcoat.
I didn't need to remove the calipers, Just clean them off with a microfibre cloth, then remove the loose lacquer using a red scotchbrite pad, once you have all the peeling lacquer removed, use a grey fine grade scotchbrite pad to smooth the surface, then clean the area with some panel wipe to remove any grease or oil.
Once dry, spray a fine coat of XHT clear lacquer on the caliper, leave it to cure of 10mins until a little tacky then apply the next coat and repeat the process until you have at least 3 even coats on.
If you have a Heat gun you can use this to help the curing time, and pre heat the caliper before putting the first coat on, it will also help to break down any grease on the caliper that you may have missed when cleaning them.

As for the hubs, just use some wire wool, or scotchbrite to remove and surface rust etc, then spray on some VHT paint in the same way that you did the calipers.

If you mask up the main part of the discs then you don't have the worry of getting any paint on them, but if you do, I can easily be removed with emery paper.

Hope that helps
Happy painting

 

[Pct100]

Hello Paul.

The calipers were only peeling on the faces, I think this was due to brake fluid changes etc where the excess fluid had not been removed properly and after a time it will attack and breakdown the clearcoat.
I didn't need to remove the calipers, Just clean them off with a microfibre cloth, then remove the loose lacquer using a red scotchbrite pad, once you have all the peeling lacquer removed, use a grey fine grade scotchbrite pad to smooth the surface, then clean the area with some panel wipe to remove any grease or oil.
Once dry, spray a fine coat of XHT clear lacquer on the caliper, leave it to cure of 10mins until a little tacky then apply the next coat and repeat the process until you have at least 3 even coats on.
If you have a Heat gun you can use this to help the curing time, and pre heat the caliper before putting the first coat on, it will also help to break down any grease on the caliper that you may have missed when cleaning them.

As for the hubs, just use some wire wool, or scotchbrite to remove and surface rust etc, then spray on some VHT paint in the same way that you did the calipers.

If you mask up the main part of the discs then you don't have the worry of getting any paint on them, but if you do, I can easily be removed with emery paper.

Hope that helps
Happy painting

Thanks for that Lee....much appreciated.
Regards
Paul