Calipers: Paint or Powdercoat?

[RacerX78]

I am looking to customize the look of my car. I have a Caliber SRT4 with Red calipers and they look great so i decided i wanted to paint my BM MS3 calipers black. I'm not sure if i want to paint them or get them powder coated. My concern with painting is even though its cheaper and faster i always hear about the paint chipping or fading. If i painted i'd probably use Duplicolor since its available locally. I want to If i decided to powercoat there is a company here in state i can send my calipers to and i spoke with the owner and he said he'd powder coat all 4 for $80. I know powdercoating is stronger and will last longer but my car will be down for about a week if i do that.

Has anyone else had the calipers powdercoated or used duplicolor and had good luck with them(over a year)?

 

[ohioan]

I've never had anything powder coated before, but If you have two cars, I'd say do it. You'll know that you made the right choice when you see another car next to year later down the road with chipped fadding paint on theirs...

 

[hominemodi]

no need for powder-coating and the hassle associated. instead, get yourself the g2 caliper paint kit and call it a day.

http://www.g2usa.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=g2usa&Product_Code=G2

 

[Addison]

Or Duplicolor:

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/caliper.html

 

[ohioan]

Good link. Think that's what i'll use whenever I do mine... Maybe next year or something...


*chin in hand* think silver would be a good color for me...

 

[MM BOOST]

duplicolor is about the equivalent of using watercolor/finger paint for the calipers. Spend a few more bucks and use G2. To give you an idea of the quality, I did my calipers orange with g2 paint last year...since I have painted the calipers 3 times with different duplicolor paint...and right now I have chips on my calipers, and the orange g2 paint is showing through the duplicolor paint. That is quality my friends.

 

[ohioan]

Indeed! Yeah, my last post was for the g2. but the dupli color post was as i was writing a response.

Just from the links, the g2 looks thicker! I'd go with that one fo sho!

 

[Perro del Sol]

G2 is far superior and will not bubble when your braking system gets hot

 

[RacerX78]

I thought about G2 i it looks better, but i'd have to order it. By the time i got it shipped to my house then painted my calipers it be about a week or more. In that time i could have had them powder coated for $40 more and stronger. If G2 was available here locally i'd be on it, but i've called around and its not.

 

[MM BOOST]

don't buy G2 from their website. I bought a black G2 kit on ebay from a power seller for $37 shipped. Hell of a deal.

 

[Hank3]

don't buy G2 from their website. I bought a black G2 kit on ebay from a power seller for $37 shipped. Hell of a deal.

I did the same and with BCB of 8%

So far it has held up well. One chip from me putting on wheels. They have a warranty against chips, so make sure you hang on to your receipt/proof of purchase. Process took a few hours all together. Definitely worth it, and no need to disassemble the caliper and pistons.

 

[RacerX78]

I'm getting my tint done on friday so i wouldn't be able to send in my calipers until saturday at the earliest for powder coating. So i decided to order G2 since they say it can ship from il which is close to me. If its here by saturday so i can get it painted that will be great.

 

[Hank3]

Cool - you're gonna love it! Make sure you read the instructions before painting

 

[ohioan]

...and be sure to post before/after pics to let us know how it came out.


Do we have a thred for painted calipers?

 

[iSpoon]

I'd actually be curious to see if anyone powder coated their calipers. You would have a much wider range of color selection for something like that even if you are seemingly paying a "premium" for it simply because that process costs more than painting.

 

[RacerX78]

Cool - you're gonna love it! Make sure you read the instructions before painting

Yea i will, i've only got 220miles on the car so the brakes are pretty clean.

 

[Jdm_Mica]

I'm jealous of your miles...2010 ms3?

 

[RacerX78]

Yea its a 10' I'm up to 400 miles now. Getting ready to do the fluid changes. The G2 came in this weekend. When i do my brake install I'll do paint the calipers.

 

[wruss64]

I painted my calipers on my 2008 with the G2 Red, love it. I think it is a better product and will hold up longer than the Duplicolor. I have about 7,000 miles on the calipers after coating them with the G2, and they still look great. I do have one very small spot on a back caliper that I think a big rock or something might have flown up and chipped it, but very very small. Brake dust comes right off also.

I did recently buy a powder coating gun and have done some small parts. I will eventually powder coat the calipers as powder does withstand a beating better. Also, as mentioned above, many many more colors to choose from, and I bought Gorilla metallic red lugs and they really don't match the G2 Red, which is a bit orange. Looks great by themselves, but doesn't match the lugs. So I will say I will powder eventually, more for color match than anything else. The G2 is great stuff. You won't think the cheap little brush they send you will last for the full 4 calipers, but it does.

 

[BigDaddyMS3]

+1 on the G2 caliper paint. I've been to a half dozen road track events and no blistering peeling, or pock marking yet.