myvette1

Hello Corvette forum Community. This is my first post ever on the forum and I have a C6 that I call Vetta w/ 9000 miles Black on Black. I want to start off by thanking many of you that post on this website and have been an abundance of help on many of my upgrade decisions and tech questions. This is an awesome forum with constructive info and helpful people that care for their Corvette brothers and sisters. My question today is on painting my calipers front and back. I know the color I want to paint them but not sure on the procedure. I've researched the forum and can't seem to find a post on this. Maybe I'm not seeing it and I apologize if it's a redundant question. If there is anyone that can give me a hand on this topic, I would greatly appreciate it. To be a little more elaborate, I want to know if I need to take the calipers off or can I keep them on? If I do need to take them off, do I need to bleed the brake system, and is it difficult to do. I'm not a mechanic but I have changed brake pads on other vehicles. Is there any tricks on taking the calipers off or pads on a C6. Thank you in advance for any links or info given. Also, thank you again forum community for all of your information in the past years. May the Corvette Forum Community Live On.....

ATC399

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/sear...archid=7445239

Good luck

Miaugi

Welcome & congrats.

myvette1

Troller, thank you for the quick replay, but this is what I am getting from your link.

"vBulletin Message
Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms. "

I'm gonna try it again when I get home this afternoon on a different computer. Thank you for the help.

sscamaro

You don't have to take the calipers off completely. Just take them off the bracket. Don't disconnect the brake hose. You can move them around so you can paint them. I used the Duplicolor paint kit to do mine. The only suggestion is use a softer brush them supplied. You can paint over the letters. After the paint dries you can remove the paint on the letters with a razor blade. The paint comes off rather easily.

HARVEY T.GLUCK

Does anybody sell-- w/ an exchange the red calipers on a ZO6 for either Cyrstal Red or Black ones.....Thanks....Harvey T. Gluck HTG39@AOL.COM

Finster07

Welcome!!! Excellent first post.
I painted my calipers red on both my C-5 and C-6. Both I did by hand without removing the calipers. Just depends on how precise you want to get. With the wheels on, my calipers look professionally painted. For my C-6, I purchased the 2 part paint that hardens in 24 hours or so out of the Ecklers catalogue. You can scrape any paint off the 'Corvette' logo with a razor. Easy job. My car is Monterey Red and the red calipers look awesome. I did several touch ups and the paint lasted several hours in the can until I was satified with the paint job. Some guys get their calipers powder coated. Just depends on what you want.

Finster07

On my C-6, I think I did take the calipers off the bracket. I definitely did not remove the brake line. Support the caliper with a cord, dont let it hang by the brake line. Don't forget to torque the caliper guide pin bolts when you reinstall it. If you need the torque value let us know and we will find it.

myvette1

Gentlemen, I appreciate your help on this. As always, the community to the rescue. I will take Finster07 and sscamaro's advise. I appreciate also, the warm welcome(s). I hope to contribute to the forum in the near future as all of you have. Have a safe and great weekend.

TXSTICK

Don't forget to clean them with Brake cleaner before you paint them.

Randen

I know it sounds cheezy, but the break caliper paint sets like duplicolor work great, yes throw away the supplied brush, clean very well and I painted all mine red without removing them, paint has held up, looks great, just to add, instead of using a knife to clean the Corvette consider fine wet sand paper, polished the letters up great, it may take paitience but if you have any painting skills at all it should look great, good luck

Craigster05

Just get a good 1" brush and a 1/4" tip brush used for ceramic painting. Put chapstick on the letters first, then when the paint is dry, the chapstick (and any paint) wipes right off the letters. I painted mine right on the car...just took off the wheels. Started at the front passenger, went around the car, had a beer, went around again and was done. Put the wheels back on, let the car sit overnight to dry well, and that was it.

RFP

Welcome to the Forum (from another 'new guy')! Is your '05 C6 your very first Corvette?

Oh yes, how about filling out your Forum profile?

Cheers,

Rob

VET4LES

Welcome.

0corvette pilot

while my business here is selling powdercoated calipers, for painting, this is my suggestion.
Jack car up and remove all 4 wheels,
Unbolt the calipers and brackets, but don't disconnect fluid lines
Remove the rotors, then replace the brackets and calipers
clean, paint, let dry,
then reinstall everything.

Its a lot easier than trying to mask the rotors off.

Harvey T Gluck, check your pm

Joe_G

Here's a thread on how to change the brake pads, it will help you get the calipers off. I actually didn't take my calipers off, I swung them out of the way as I describe in this thread to paint them.

The Duplicolor kit is great and holds up well - but buy an extra can of brake cleaner and use it before the cleaner that comes with the kit. The cleaner in the kit is great but there's not enough IMHO. 2 cans gets them really clean and the paint will stick for years even through track use.

I bet you'll love the 2 screwdriver trick by the way!

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1596138

Joe_G

Oh and a hot tip on searches - use the search link at the top banner, select advance options, then check the "search archives" box, then check c6 tech or whatever forum you want to search. There is a TON of great info in the archives and it seems things get archived pretty quickly. A regular search does not check the archives.

glenB

I just recently did mine.

I removed the calipers for cleaning and painting because I also installed steel braided brake lines at the same time.

I bought a 1 gallon can of brake solvent and I used a plastic brisle brush like a parts cleaning tub brush to clean the calipers and then sprayed them off with a can of brake clean. Depending on how long your calipers have been in service you may also need a brass tooth brush. A discarded tooth brush is also helpful in tight areas and getting between the letters and such.

I have an air compressor so I blew them off, but air drying is fine as well, just takes longer.

I used DupliColor engine paint to paint the calipers/brackets/rotors and have never had any problems with the durability. I painted right over the letters and then used a fine tooth file to remove the paint and it will also level the letters and looks just fine, has the factory look.

I painted the rotors completely and sprayed down into the fins/vents and let the brake pads remove the paint in the effected areas. It was the first time I did it like that but it turned out well. If you don't completey remove the paint on the first trip, your pads will stick to the rotors when you park but they will pop loose. As the paint wears off they will be touchy on the initial application of the pedal but they will wear fine and I have had no lingering problems from painting them like this.

I painted my rotors and brackets semi gloss black and the calipers Duplicolor Cast Iron which is slightly darker than the factory finish. It looks like a Charcoal/Graphite color with a semi gloss metallic finish. Most people won't even know you did it.

If you remove the calipers use a clear plastic/rubber hose to bleed the calipers and keep the fluid off the new paint. As the parts heat cylce they will smell as the paint cures and will leave a durable finish.

I used a Mity Vac to bleed the brakes with Valvoline Syn Power brake fluid.

In response to the recents posts about mods and voiding the warranty. I was just in recently for warranty repair and they covered all the repairs under warranty and even noted that there were mods but they didn't contribute to the failures and nothing more was said.

Craigster05

If you decide to powder coat, Mike's work is second to none, the only thing better than his quality is his customer service.

myvette1

Very helpful, high "caliper" advice from experience Vette owners. Thank you all and for the welcomes as well. I owned a 2004 C5 before it was taken from me (stolen) after 6 months of enjoyment. Then, I jumped to a C6 and love it. So this is my 2nd Vette. I keep it in the garage most of the time and use it on the weekend with the wife. She also drives it and enjoys it very much. Hope every one enjoys the rest of their weekend and thank you for the great info...