I've been doing some research on how hot calipers could get with spirited (read: hpde) driving to determine the type of paint to use on it.

In the past, i've always gone with the high temp rattle can stuff that can intermittently withstand heat up to 1200°F.

After reading up on some specs for off-road use only Brembo, Alcon and AP Racing calipers, i noticed a common thread across all three:

• Temperatures should be kept below 356°F (use of brake ducts)
• Calipers can intermittently withstand up to 392°F without much, if any, damage, although it's recommended to replace the seals on a frequent basis.
• Calipers that see constant, or even reach 464°F may experience seal failure and possibly fluid leakage. Seals and fluid changes are highly recommended.

Seeing as how even these performance calipers can see close to 500°F temperatures, it is probably safe to say that off-the-shelf high heat paint rated that high will work just fine, especially on a daily driver. Last time i went to the track, in 100+°F weather, my Sport calipers never went above 275°F.

On a similar note, i have tested some "high heat vinyl" caliper decals from eBay by applying it to aluminum foil and baking it at 490°F in the oven for 15 minutes... they don't melt or come off, but the white decal i got did turn a light chocolate brown. I'll test it at a much lower temperature soon and apply some high temp clear to see how well that holds up.

 

Interesting info, thanks

I think you'll find that foil type decals take heat better.
I had some silver ones on another car that I ran HPDEs with and they were fine.

 

Kewl info on the calipers, I'd be surprised if they would get really hot as they are not light (big heat sink) and most heat would dissapate through the rotor especially when rolling.

I used G2 caliper "paint" (really 2 part epoxy I think) in silver just to keep the OEM look since mine got pretty fugly quickly with corrosion They still look like the day I applied it. And I only used half of the kit to cover my 4 calipers. V. easy to clean the calipers not too (power washer through the wheel takes everything off now), and they will be protected nicely from the cr4ppy sand and salt they will see this winter.....

 

im curious to see what the silver caliper paint looks like on the caliper after painting ..

can you please post a picture of the caliper??

also.
would you guys say its also ok to use this g2 on the rotor??
i want to refinish my new rotors to match ..

 

Car is in the garage so lighting ain't so hot, but here ya go..






I painted my rotor hats black (seen in last pic) with can paint sprayed into a container and brushed on since I didnt remove the rotors from the car. Dont worry about getting spray type paint on braking surface, but the brush method keeps it off easily also (be careful first driving the car if you do get spray on there tho), but if you use G2 keep that epoxy off or you'll need a jackhammer to remove.

 

ohhhh ..
thats looks great .. ( alot better than what they look like normally )
thanks for taking the time out KREGG..
to take and post pics .

really appreciate it..

 

No problem bro, this forum is all about helping each other out, lord knows I have relied on it a bunch of times, glad it'll help. Another nice thing about the G2 is that little prep is needed. Mine were pretty corroded and I didnt do much to them just applied the epoxy right over and the stuff hardened right over it all.

 

Easily. I see a big difference in heat emanating from the caliper and the rotor after a spirited run. In fact there's even a noticeable difference in temperature between the hat and the outer edges of the rotor. I was thinking of the G2, but being the guy who build his ramps out of 2x6's, the G2 was beyond the budget.

Here's my contribution. IIRC, the first is of the 1200F silver on my old Maxima, the 2nd is of the 500F silver on the G. For the Akebono's i'm using the same type paint (no pics yet). Like Kregg above, i sprayed a pool of the paint onto a small container and brushed them onto the calipers.





Neither application has faded or flaked. You can certainly use the same type of paint on the rotor hats.

 

That's a great idea! I have the Akebono stencils coming in soon so i will be using those, but i will look into the foil decals... should be easier to work with on the rears.

FWIW, vinyl decals are rated at up to 180°F. I have yet to see any actual product specifications, or the product itself for so-called "high temperature" vinyl.