Paint callipers and drums with TOA spray

[Rayan Hettiarachchi]

Hey guys. I am planning to paint my brake callipers and drums (front disc and rear drums scenario) in exterior colour. Planning to do this on my own using TOA spray as I could find the colour I wanted. Anyone else who has done this before or any thoughts in using TOA spray?

Also if this is a possibility I would like to paint the tappet cover too!

Thoughts, advices and comments are welcome! Let me know if I am about to mess it up 😆

[PerfMad]

13 minutes ago, Rayan Hettiarachchi said:

Hey guys. I am planning to paint my brake callipers and drums (front disc and rear drums scenario) in exterior colour. Planning to do this on my own using TOA spray as I could find the colour I wanted. Anyone else who has done this before or any thoughts in using TOA spray?

Also if this is a possibility I would like to paint the tappet cover too!

Thoughts, advices and comments are welcome! Let me know if I am about to mess it up 😆

Nothing to be worried. But before you apply spray paint make sure to prepare the things you are going to apply. I would suggest to take probably 800 and 1000 sand papers to clean the dust and rust in brake calipers and drums.

Then you can cover the other area and apply 2-3 paint coats (as much as you want until you are satisfied with the job). Make sure to read the instructions and keep 15-20 mins intervals after each spray turns.

I haven't personally done the tappet. If its alloy, you might need to use some paint adhesion to make sure the paint stick to it. If its steel kinda material it would be pretty straight forward like the calipers and drums i guess.

Even i tried mine for the first time and it came really well. But took good 2 days and another week with some body aches here and there. 

I would say still worth it  Good luck with your DIY.
Given below are few snaps of mine..
 

Please update the thread as well if time permit.

[Rayan Hettiarachchi]

2 hours ago, PerfMad said:

Nothing to be worried. But before you apply spray paint make sure to prepare the things you are going to apply. I would suggest to take probably 800 and 1000 sand papers to clean the dust and rust in brake calipers and drums.

Then you can cover the other area and apply 2-3 paint coats (as much as you want until you are satisfied with the job). Make sure to read the instructions and keep 15-20 mins intervals after each spray turns.

I haven't personally done the tappet. If its alloy, you might need to use some paint adhesion to make sure the paint stick to it. If its steel kinda material it would be pretty straight forward like the calipers and drums i guess.

Even i tried mine for the first time and it came really well. But took good 2 days and another week with some body aches here and there. 

I would say still worth it  Good luck with your DIY.
Given below are few snaps of mine..
 

Please update the thread as well if time permit.

Thanks man! much appreciated.

Yes, the sanding might be a tiring job. Also I was under impression that I have to take the drums and the callipers out before spraying. Seems like it is not necessary as you have done it while attached to the car. That is a relief. I was worried about the discs to be particular.

btw clean job there! I assume you did this during the lockdown 😁 

I will keep the thread updated with my results.

[iRage]

9 hours ago, Rayan Hettiarachchi said:

Also I was under impression that I have to take the drums and the callipers out before spraying.

Well...your impression is correct...although it is not necessary, it is advisable. If you remove it you will be able to do a tidier job because when it is on the car...an unexpected breeze of wind can make the paint blow off and get on other parts of the car (disks, wheel arch cover, suspension strut, etc...of course you can always clean it off..but that can also be added work (even the discs can be cleaned with brake cleaner or even wet sanding gently). So its all about which trade off is better for you (for most at home car owners, removing brake components and then having to bleed and re-plenish the brake fluid might not be an easy task).

[PerfMad]

13 hours ago, Rayan Hettiarachchi said:

Thanks man! much appreciated.

Yes, the sanding might be a tiring job. Also I was under impression that I have to take the drums and the callipers out before spraying. Seems like it is not necessary as you have done it while attached to the car. That is a relief. I was worried about the discs to be particular.

btw clean job there! I assume you did this during the lockdown 😁 

I will keep the thread updated with my results.

Actually I did it during a weekend. 
You can remove the calipers, but its a pain to reassemble if you don't have proper tools. Instead you can cover every aspect. I had alot of news papers laying around so i covered one side fully including inner covers before spray painting the calipers. Even the brake calipers and nuts, bolts and rubber parts were covered before applying the paint to make sure non of the unwanted areas were covered in paint. So if you prepare well, then less rework after paint job.

You can watch couple of DIY youtube videos to get an idea about how to cover up things. Rest is your creativity  

I did some rendering before painting the wheel caps to see which would suit better and then applied the selected one. Painting the Honda LOGO was the difficult part (as you may have seen how much effort was put to mask it out and get it painted. + even after the masking is removed I had to take a small brush and do few touch ups here and there.

If you have multiple jacks, its easier to apply paint at one go. But since i had only one jack, i had to attend one after another. So I had to cover one side per day (including wheels, hubs, calipers and all)  

[PerfMad]

3 hours ago, iRage said:

Well...your impression is correct...although it is not necessary, it is advisable. If you remove it you will be able to do a tidier job because when it is on the car...an unexpected breeze of wind can make the paint blow off and get on other parts of the car (disks, wheel arch cover, suspension strut, etc...of course you can always clean it off..but that can also be added work (even the discs can be cleaned with brake cleaner or even wet sanding gently). So its all about which trade off is better for you (for most at home car owners, removing brake components and then having to bleed and re-plenish the brake fluid might not be an easy task).

agreed. For a moment i thought the same. But then thought if it goes wrong i might not have enough time to get it sorted since i did it during lock down period  and the nearest garage was also closed  

[Rayan Hettiarachchi]

7 hours ago, iRage said:

Well...your impression is correct...although it is not necessary, it is advisable. If you remove it you will be able to do a tidier job because when it is on the car...an unexpected breeze of wind can make the paint blow off and get on other parts of the car (disks, wheel arch cover, suspension strut, etc...of course you can always clean it off..but that can also be added work (even the discs can be cleaned with brake cleaner or even wet sanding gently). So its all about which trade off is better for you (for most at home car owners, removing brake components and then having to bleed and re-plenish the brake fluid might not be an easy task).

Thank you for the inputs! Yes I agree, the job will be much better if I take the parts out as I can paint inside-out. Luckily, I think taking apart and putting back together wouldn't be an issue for me as I have a friend who owns a full-fledged workshop. I will keep the tread updated!

[Rayan Hettiarachchi]

3 hours ago, PerfMad said:

Actually I did it during a weekend. 
You can remove the calipers, but its a pain to reassemble if you don't have proper tools. Instead you can cover every aspect. I had alot of news papers laying around so i covered one side fully including inner covers before spray painting the calipers. Even the brake calipers and nuts, bolts and rubber parts were covered before applying the paint to make sure non of the unwanted areas were covered in paint. So if you prepare well, then less rework after paint job.

You can watch couple of DIY youtube videos to get an idea about how to cover up things. Rest is your creativity  

I did some rendering before painting the wheel caps to see which would suit better and then applied the selected one. Painting the Honda LOGO was the difficult part (as you may have seen how much effort was put to mask it out and get it painted. + even after the masking is removed I had to take a small brush and do few touch ups here and there.

If you have multiple jacks, its easier to apply paint at one go. But since i had only one jack, i had to attend one after another. So I had to cover one side per day (including wheels, hubs, calipers and all)  

Must have been a great weekend! Solid job on the Honda logo I must say. And overall as well.

Doing this with just one jack must have been quite a long process. In my case, as I mentioned on my previous reply, planning to take the car to my friend's workshop, put it on a hoist and do it in one go. Excited!

[PerfMad]

6 minutes ago, Rayan Hettiarachchi said:

Must have been a great weekend! Solid job on the Honda logo I must say. And overall as well.

Doing this with just one jack must have been quite a long process. In my case, as I mentioned on my previous reply, planning to take the car to my friend's workshop, put it on a hoist and do it in one go. Excited!

Thanks for the complement.. well in that case its an easy job. Ya doing it with one jack is quite tiring .. had body aches for couple of days as well  

[Davy]

Good job @PerfMad! 👍

One thing I'd recommend is using a heat resistant (or high heat) paint. Especially on the valve cover. Regular spray paint tends to burn/fade/flake under the extreme heat of the engine. This is relevant to brakes as well because the front brakes do get extremely hot.

I remember there was a brand named Leyland that had high heat paint in rattle cans. I got mine from Roxy paint centre in Wellawatte in front of the... you guessed it - Roxy cinema. 🙂

[PerfMad]

3 hours ago, Davy said:

Good job @PerfMad! 👍

One thing I'd recommend is using a heat resistant (or high heat) paint. Especially on the valve cover. Regular spray paint tends to burn/fade/flake under the extreme heat of the engine. This is relevant to brakes as well because the front brakes do get extremely hot.

I remember there was a brand named Leyland that had high heat paint in rattle cans. I got mine from Roxy paint centre in Wellawatte in front of the... you guessed it - Roxy cinema. 🙂

Thanks @Davy 👌