Okay here are a few shots of the finish product. I went with a white and black scheme. I wanted to go all white but my OEM rotors were starting to rust slightly in the vents. Over time I was concerned the rust would start to bleed onto the white so I painted most of the rotors black.
For this project I took everything off the car in order to prepare for paint properly. It was pain staking and took quite a few hours. Not only did I remove the old brake dust and grime, I also took a die grinder and sanded down most of the casing makes and imperfections in the calipers. I still need to bleed the brake lines once I go to the dealership today and get a couple cans of Motorcraft fluid.
So a couple of lessons learned from this project.
1. As I mentioned I used a die grinder to sand down the calipers and brackets. The challenge that created was the paint did not want to stick to the metal as well as other areas. As a result I had to put up to 4 to 5 coats on. The paint I used was the High Temperature High Gloss Self Leveling Brush On White G2 Brake Caliper Paint System Kit
http://www.amazon.com/Temperature-Leveling-G2-Caliper-System/dp/B0006VMQE6/ref=sr_1_11?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1419252244&sr=1-11&keywords=g2+paint+caliper+kit. Regarding the kit, it comes with approximately 4 oz. of paint which is a two part mix. On the package it says it will paint four calipers. I painted all four calipers, parts of the rotors and caliper brackets. Due to the extra parts I painted and the extra coats, I ran out and had to order a second kit. Just something to consider when you decide to tackle this project. One other note as it pertains to the paint, I felt it was a bit runny and hard to work with in my opinion. While I am happy with the end results, the finish is glossy and appears to be very durable, I do have several areas that have run streaks. So if you are expecting a factory coated finish, you may be disappointed. Again for me, I am happy with the end result.
2. The color you pick is important. I knew going into this white was not going to be easy. White is bright and is hard to hide imperfections. A darker color would have certainly been easier to work with. So when considering your color, keep my comments above in mind as it may help achieve your goals easier if a darker color is picked.
3. Hex headed rotor screws. I stripped two of the four screws trying to re-install the rotors. I attributed that to not have the rotor all the way on the hub and as a result the bolts were not lining up properly with the treads. I plan on ordering new ones but something I was not expecting to so difficult.
4. Time. It took a lot longer than I planned or expected. I spent probably an hour and half removing the parts off the car. Four hours cleaning and sanding the calipers, brackets and rotors. I do have an air compressor and die grinder which helped speed up the process. My rotors had a little surface rust in the vents, so I used a drill with a wire brush to clean them out. That alone probably took two hours. Then came the paint. The first can I used, believe or not took me three hours. The second can which I only used maybe 1/3, took about an hour and half. Reassemble and installation took another three hours. I took the rear springs off which created some challenges on the re-install. I tip that I used for compressing the springs was using a work bench vise and using a zip tie to keep them compressed until I could re-install them on the caliper. This goes without saying but I'll say it anyway. Compressing a spring is very dangerous and I take no responsibility with this tip. I'm not an expert, just a weekend wrench-er! Bleeding the brakes I'm guessing will take an hour. Keep in mind I do get side tracked from time to time and can spend way to long on the small details, so if your like me, this project will take longer than you think.
So that's it. I hope you enjoy the pictures and if you decide to do this, you remember some of the information from this post. Overall it was a fun winter project however as with most of my projects it took three times longer than I anticipated. Happy modding!
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