Brake caliper paint or powder coat? Did you split them in half?

[2005ViperRam]

I searched for caliper info and wonder what was the final thought of what paint should be used? I am waffling back and forth about if I should paint them, or just get them sand blasted and powder coated.

I have the drivers side tore down to replace the control arms and wheel bearing, so I thought it would be nice to put nice looking calipers on it. I’m in no rush because they say it will be a 2 week process for the blasting/powder coat (if I go that route).

Now the big question, I see everyone posted to use a compressor to pop the brake piston out. When I did mine only one on each side popped out. I placed the piston back and clamped it to hopefully pop the other but it didn’t budge. I ended up spending hours to break the ceramic piston until the small pieces fell out. So what is the secret to remove them? They seem rusted in. I still have to remove the other piston from the other side.

Also I took the knuckle to the sandblaster today to have him blast all the dirt, grease, and grime off of it. I didn’t want to spend a fortune to buy a bunch of degreaser. Since this part appears to be aluminum, did you guys just leave it bare metal, or did you use some type of clear coat to protect it (even though I don’t think aluminum need protection paint/clear coat.

Lastly, if you did happen to paint or power coat the front calipers, did you remove the five 12mm Allen screws to enable the caliper to split in half to make it easy or did you leave the connected together?

 

[Wifey]

Well I've never done any of this! But I'm interested to know what the take is...,

 

[Srt10650]

I searched for caliper info and wonder what was the final thought of what paint should be used? I am waffling back and forth about if I should paint them, or just get them sand blasted and powder coated.

I have the drivers side tore down to replace the control arms and wheel bearing, so I thought it would be nice to put nice looking calipers on it. I’m in no rush because they say it will be a 2 week process for the blasting/powder coat (if I go that route).

Now the big question, I see everyone posted to use a compressor to pop the brake piston out. When I did mine only one on each side popped out. I placed the piston back and clamped it to hopefully pop the other but it didn’t budge. I ended up spending hours to break the ceramic piston until the small pieces fell out. So what is the secret to remove them? They seem rusted in. I still have to remove the other piston from the other side.

Also I took the knuckle to the sandblaster today to have him blast all the dirt, grease, and grime off of it. I didn’t want to spend a fortune to buy a bunch of degreaser. Since this part appears to be aluminum, did you guys just leave it bare metal, or did you use some type of clear coat to protect it (even though I don’t think aluminum need protection paint/clear coat.

Lastly, if you did happen to paint or power coat the front calipers, did you remove the five 12mm Allen screws to enable the caliper to split in half to make it easy or did you leave the connected together?

Here’s my rebuild on my calipers.

https://www.vtcoa.com/threads/caliper-piston-seized.69566/

 

[Wifey]

Here’s my rebuild on my calipers.

https://www.vtcoa.com/threads/caliper-piston-seized.69566/

That's a GREAT thread

 

[VIPR PWR]

I searched for caliper info and wonder what was the final thought of what paint should be used? I am waffling back and forth about if I should paint them, or just get them sand blasted and powder coated.

I have the drivers side tore down to replace the control arms and wheel bearing, so I thought it would be nice to put nice looking calipers on it. I’m in no rush because they say it will be a 2 week process for the blasting/powder coat (if I go that route).

Now the big question, I see everyone posted to use a compressor to pop the brake piston out. When I did mine only one on each side popped out. I placed the piston back and clamped it to hopefully pop the other but it didn’t budge. I ended up spending hours to break the ceramic piston until the small pieces fell out. So what is the secret to remove them? They seem rusted in. I still have to remove the other piston from the other side.

Also I took the knuckle to the sandblaster today to have him blast all the dirt, grease, and grime off of it. I didn’t want to spend a fortune to buy a bunch of degreaser. Since this part appears to be aluminum, did you guys just leave it bare metal, or did you use some type of clear coat to protect it (even though I don’t think aluminum need protection paint/clear coat.

Lastly, if you did happen to paint or power coat the front calipers, did you remove the five 12mm Allen screws to enable the caliper to split in half to make it easy or did you leave the connected together?

These are original and just used Super Clean degreaser and wiped them clean . Then I polished the with some polishing compound to shine the up .. the caliper and you can see the knuckle also . Cost was a little over $10 for a gallon of degreaser.. I actually bought a couple cans of Brakeleen and never used them …
Paint for calipers from what ai read and seen does a great job . As for how long it lasts I don’t know . My calipers are original powder coat almost 20 years old and never were cleaned like in the pic before . I was expecting to have to paint them . The upper control arms and the knuckles were just sprayed with a super Clean degreaser and wiped off . I did spray the entire wheel well and even the metal areas with GX3 plastic restorer ( Walmart $4.99 a can. 1 can goes a very long way ) and wiped it down ..
unless your going to be making it solely a show truck then I would either powder coat or some kind of plating like chrome . Other than that they will get filthy, fade etc. over time and a cleaning or polishing can make them look decent again . In those pics they are as from the factory and 20 years old .

 

[2005ViperRam]

My calipers are original powder coat almost 20 years old and never were cleaned like in the pic before . I was expecting to have to paint them . The upper control arms and the knuckles were just sprayed with a super Clean degreaser and wiped off .

Well, that answers that. The truck is far from a show truck and is only a daily driver.
I’m not sure what they will charge for the sandblasting, but the knuckle is at their shop. Per the caliper, I bought the kit of the o-ring and piston, thus why I put some thought into power coating them, but your caliper looks great, so I think I will go that way since it’s a lot cheaper.

 

[Wifey]

That's incredible! I'm still amazed that cleaner worked so well!

 

[Wifey]

Well, that answers that. The truck is far from a show truck and is only a daily driver.
I’m not sure what they will charge for the sandblasting, but the knuckle is at their shop. Per the caliper, I bought the kit of the o-ring and piston, thus why I put some thought into power coating them, but your caliper looks great, so I think I will go that way since it’s a lot cheaper.

Worth trying the cleaner first for sure!! It worked great from the pics!

.... And don't forget NEVR DULL for shining up the aluminum wheels

 

[2005ViperRam]

Here’s my rebuild on my calipers.

https://www.vtcoa.com/threads/caliper-piston-seized.69566/

Thanks for posting this. Somehow I missed read this one when I was doing my search.
Mine was the same as yours, it was smoking badly so I knew I needed to rebuild them. I had a spare set of calipers that I purchased back in 2012, so I never got to building the smoking one. Since I’m doing the front end I thinking of rebuilding the smoking pair and putting them on, so I started down that “rabbit-hole” path.
My question is you said a couple pistons were seized, how did you unseize them? I was able to slowly break the ceramic piston out on one set, but having a real hard time on the other.
Also, you said you used sandpaper to clean-up the bore. What grit of sandpaper did you use?

 

[VIPR PWR]

Worth trying the cleaner first for sure!! It worked great from the pics!

.... And don't forget NEVR DULL for shining up the aluminum wheels

As long as they are not clear coated ..

 

[Wifey]

As long as they are not clear coated ..

Oh yea, huh

 

[VIPR PWR]

Thanks for posting this. Somehow I missed read this one when I was doing my search.
Mine was the same as yours, it was smoking badly so I knew I needed to rebuild them. I had a spare set of calipers that I purchased back in 2012, so I never got to building the smoking one. Since I’m doing the front end I thinking of rebuilding the smoking pair and putting them on, so I started down that “rabbit-hole” path.
My question is you said a couple pistons were seized, how did you unseize them? I was able to slowly break the ceramic piston out on one set, but having a real hard time on the other.
Also, you said you used sandpaper to clean-up the bore. What grit of sandpaper did you use?

Try using some brakeleen to clean the piston area and use some 00 steal or copper wool .. maybe lubricate them with brake fluid or WD40 .. you don’t want to mess up the piston bores or enlarge them .. IMO !

 

[Srt10650]

Thanks for posting this. Somehow I missed read this one when I was doing my search.
Mine was the same as yours, it was smoking badly so I knew I needed to rebuild them. I had a spare set of calipers that I purchased back in 2012, so I never got to building the smoking one. Since I’m doing the front end I thinking of rebuilding the smoking pair and putting them on, so I started down that “rabbit-hole” path.
My question is you said a couple pistons were seized, how did you unseize them? I was able to slowly break the ceramic piston out on one set, but having a real hard time on the other.
Also, you said you used sandpaper to clean-up the bore. What grit of sandpaper did you use?

I had to break the pistons with a screwdriver and hammer. I can’t remember what grit sand paper but I also used copper wire wheels to get inside the bores.

 

[VIPR PWR]

Did you try putting a block between the pistons to get all 4 to move before removing any piston , otherwise you loose the air pressure to blast the pistons across the room with the sound of a shotgun blast haha . How much air pressure was applied ?

 

[VIPR PWR]

 

[VIPR PWR]

 

[Wifey]

Good videos

 

[VIPR PWR]

Good videos

He explains what to do to remove the pistons .. I wish he showed doing it hahaha!
Air pressure can be massively powerful.. found out just how powerful a Michelin 13 inch tire with 40 PSI in it decided to split open on the side wall inches from my crotch .. all I heard was a muffled boom turned and saw one of the other mechanics smiling at the sight just before I hit the ground and woke up with the rescue squad there .. I was all disoriented but decided to shake it off and went into the front waiting room and sat down to get my bearings back . The bosses wife was at the reception desk and asked me if I needed to go home ,, well that’s when I noticed that ever seem f my pants were ripped open hahaha ! I did go home but to put on an another pair of pants and went back to work . When I got home I noticed both my inner thighs from the crotch to the knees where giant bruises and the pain was worse but I bared it ,, I have a high tolerance against pain . Before you laugh to hard I will say my manly hood was and is intact hahaha ..but may take cover at the sound of a boom
The point is that caliper pistons do not have a chance against air pressure . Never try to change a tire that has a split ring unless you know what your doing 100% they can send you flying in air , decapitate and kill you .. and be careful,l” Don’t shoot your eye out “

 

[Wifey]

He explains what to do to remove the pistons .. I wish he showed doing it hahaha!
Air pressure can be massively powerful.. found out just how powerful a Michelin 13 inch tire with 40 PSI in it decided to split open on the side wall inches from my crotch .. all I heard was a muffled boom turned and saw one of the other mechanics smiling at the sight just before I hit the ground and woke up with the rescue squad there .. I was all disoriented but decided to shake it off and went into the front waiting room and sat down to get my bearings back . The bosses wife was at the reception desk and asked me if I needed to go home ,, well that’s when I noticed that ever seem f my pants were ripped open hahaha ! I did go home but to put on an another pair of pants and went back to work . When I got home I noticed both my inner thighs from the crotch to the knees where giant bruises and the pain was worse but I bared it ,, I have a high tolerance against pain . Before you laugh to hard I will say my manly hood was and is intact hahaha ..but may take cover at the sound of a boom
The point is that caliper pistons do not have a chance against air pressure . Never try to change a tire that has a split ring unless you know what your doing 100% they can send you flying in air , decapitate and kill you .. and be careful,l” Don’t shoot your eye out “

Oh my!! What a great thing you came out with everything where it's supposed to be I have seen videos of what those split rings can do! We had a set of those on a motor home and changed them out for that reason! And your right about air!!

Glad all ended well for you hahahaha!

 

[VIPR PWR]

Oh my!! What a great thing you came out with everything where it's supposed to be I have seen videos of what those split rings can do! We had a set of those on a motor home and changed them out for that reason! And your right about air!!

Glad all ended well for you hahahaha!

Yes otherwise #’s 1-3 and 1 to #7 may not have existed lol