Spray-painted Akebono's
#31
11-20-2009, 04:18 PM
#32
11-20-2009, 04:55 PM
Thanks again guys. 
You know, that's a good point. I'm afraid to scratch them. It's sitting on a nice soft bed of microfiber towels right now.
Not counting the wait on the cure times, probably no more than 5 hours. Sanding them down was very easy. The OEM paint is very soft. And, on the rears, mine only came half painted -- odd as that was, it was a blessing in disguise as i didn't have to spend too much time sanding that side down.
And this takes into account wet sanding certain areas to get rid of runs and/or over spray prior to clearing it.
You know, that's a good point. I'm afraid to scratch them. It's sitting on a nice soft bed of microfiber towels right now.
Not counting the wait on the cure times, probably no more than 5 hours. Sanding them down was very easy. The OEM paint is very soft. And, on the rears, mine only came half painted -- odd as that was, it was a blessing in disguise as i didn't have to spend too much time sanding that side down.
And this takes into account wet sanding certain areas to get rid of runs and/or over spray prior to clearing it.
#33
11-20-2009, 07:59 PM
I was figuring about 5 or 6 hours... That's a lot of time to spend when you can get it done for $300, but of course you don't get the satisfaction of doing it yourself when you pay someone else to do it. I'm like you and tend to do most of the work myself, but I'll probably just cough up the bucks on this one and have mine professionally powder coated.
Great job again, though, and props for doing it yourself!!!
Great job again, though, and props for doing it yourself!!!
#34
11-21-2009, 01:30 AM
Registered User
Not counting the wait on the cure times, probably no more than 5 hours. Sanding them down was very easy. The OEM paint is very soft. And, on the rears, mine only came half painted -- odd as that was, it was a blessing in disguise as i didn't have to spend too much time sanding that side down.
#35
12-03-2009, 02:55 AM
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#39
12-16-2009, 04:27 AM
#40
12-17-2009, 01:44 AM
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#41
06-10-2010, 10:10 PM
Registered User
Need to install these someday. 
Sanded, masked, spray-painted with Duplicolor ceramic engine paint (blue). Masked again, Akebono stencil applied and spray-painted with the same type of paint (silver). Wet-sanded to get rid of imperfections/overspray and finally spray-painted with several coats of clear Duplicolor ceramic engine paint.
17 days in the making. 5 days cure time between the colored paints, and 7 days for the clear (to cure).
The stencils, rather adhesive vinyls, were ordered from Christy with decal-orations.com. You have to specify that they knock-out the vinyl to use as a stencil. Otherwise they give you a positive decal. Christy was a joy to work with and very helpful with trying to get what i was looking for tested and created.
I eventually went with the stencil/paint because a vinyl sticker kept turning brown every time i placed it in the oven for testing and assuming the types of temperature it could be exposed to should this baby go to the track again. Even so-called eBay "high-temperature" vinyls.
Sanded, masked, spray-painted with Duplicolor ceramic engine paint (blue). Masked again, Akebono stencil applied and spray-painted with the same type of paint (silver). Wet-sanded to get rid of imperfections/overspray and finally spray-painted with several coats of clear Duplicolor ceramic engine paint.
17 days in the making. 5 days cure time between the colored paints, and 7 days for the clear (to cure).
The stencils, rather adhesive vinyls, were ordered from Christy with decal-orations.com. You have to specify that they knock-out the vinyl to use as a stencil. Otherwise they give you a positive decal. Christy was a joy to work with and very helpful with trying to get what i was looking for tested and created.
I eventually went with the stencil/paint because a vinyl sticker kept turning brown every time i placed it in the oven for testing and assuming the types of temperature it could be exposed to should this baby go to the track again. Even so-called eBay "high-temperature" vinyls.
Since I'll probably end up going this route when I get mine in a couple of months (can't fathom spending 300+ on powder coating them), I have a couple of ?'s (since there was nothing on your site about it):
What grits of sandpaper did you use to get to bare metal?
Cleaned with brake cleaner (or something else) between sandings?
Anything else you missed/omitted from that short summary above?
Thanks
Last edited by E-Ticket Ride; 06-10-2010 at 10:15 PM.
#42
06-11-2010, 08:08 AM
IIRC it was either an 80 or 150 grit, those were all i had. It doesn't take much to scrape the OEM paint (some on Myg37 say they're actually PC'd -- i disagree, unless some are PC'd and others are painted from the factory) so i would venture to guess that any medium to coarse sandpaper will do the job. You can move on up if the surface is too rough for your liking.
I didn't go all the way to bare metal on this (pics on this post), but IMHO, it's all that's needed to take the clear, some of the old paint and give enough surface area for new paint to stick.
After the initial sanding, i lightly washed it with soap and water to assess the progress. How light? The same way i washcloth-bathed my kiddos when they were young.
Dry thoroughly before deciding to sand some more.
On the painting, light multiple coats are preferred with ample time between coats (the can will guide you). This part is important. Too short a gap and the previous layer of paint won't have time to dry and gas out. The whole job will never cure properly.
If you use the same paint i used, cure times between paint colors/clear will be a few days. The other line of Duplicolor paints with higher temperature resistance can be cured in the oven, speeding up the process. But the color options are limited and there is no clear available.
Once your first color is cured. Assess the progress and wetsand as needed (i used the 3M stuff, similar to this) -- get small sheets between the 800 to 2000 grits, or if the imperfections are really small you can just skip directly to the 1500-2000 range. If you're not familiar with wetsanding, the key is to keep the sandpaper soaking wet. Dunk it in somewhat soapy water or your favorite detailer spray for a few minutes and keep it wet as you sand the calipers down.
If you're doing the painted logos, i also suggest lightly sanding that area. If you're doing stickers, no need.
Again wash lightly with soap and water after the process is done.
If you're doing the painted logos, repeat the steps, making sure you've masked everything else off. If you're doing stickers, proceed to applying clear coat. Make sure you also use the high heat stuff for this. The clear is optional, but helps protect the paint. A note on stickers, "high-temp adhesive vinyl stickers", as i have found out, will brown in the oven at roughly 200+ degrees with or without clear coat applied to it. This was for the white and light gray vinyls. If you're using dark colored vinyl sticker, it probably doesn't matter. Which means, if you are doing stickers, i would apply them after clear coating, so you can swap them out easily down the road. If you're painting the logos on, apply it before the clear coat.
Again, a few days for curing. Assess the final product and wetsand again if needed.
I think i got all that in there, let me know if i missed anything or if you need further clarification
- Mike
I didn't go all the way to bare metal on this (pics on this post), but IMHO, it's all that's needed to take the clear, some of the old paint and give enough surface area for new paint to stick.
After the initial sanding, i lightly washed it with soap and water to assess the progress. How light? The same way i washcloth-bathed my kiddos when they were young.
Dry thoroughly before deciding to sand some more. On the painting, light multiple coats are preferred with ample time between coats (the can will guide you). This part is important. Too short a gap and the previous layer of paint won't have time to dry and gas out. The whole job will never cure properly.
If you use the same paint i used, cure times between paint colors/clear will be a few days. The other line of Duplicolor paints with higher temperature resistance can be cured in the oven, speeding up the process. But the color options are limited and there is no clear available.
Once your first color is cured. Assess the progress and wetsand as needed (i used the 3M stuff, similar to this) -- get small sheets between the 800 to 2000 grits, or if the imperfections are really small you can just skip directly to the 1500-2000 range. If you're not familiar with wetsanding, the key is to keep the sandpaper soaking wet. Dunk it in somewhat soapy water or your favorite detailer spray for a few minutes and keep it wet as you sand the calipers down.
If you're doing the painted logos, i also suggest lightly sanding that area. If you're doing stickers, no need.
Again wash lightly with soap and water after the process is done.
If you're doing the painted logos, repeat the steps, making sure you've masked everything else off. If you're doing stickers, proceed to applying clear coat. Make sure you also use the high heat stuff for this. The clear is optional, but helps protect the paint. A note on stickers, "high-temp adhesive vinyl stickers", as i have found out, will brown in the oven at roughly 200+ degrees with or without clear coat applied to it. This was for the white and light gray vinyls. If you're using dark colored vinyl sticker, it probably doesn't matter. Which means, if you are doing stickers, i would apply them after clear coating, so you can swap them out easily down the road. If you're painting the logos on, apply it before the clear coat.
Again, a few days for curing. Assess the final product and wetsand again if needed.
I think i got all that in there, let me know if i missed anything or if you need further clarification
- Mike
#43
06-11-2010, 12:11 PM
Registered User
#44
06-11-2010, 12:24 PM
#45
08-16-2010, 12:47 AM
Registered User