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| 1991 VW Golf Mk2 with Red Painted Brakes. |
Car: 1991 VW Golf Mk2
Colour: Marine Blue
Brakes: Painted Brake Calipers
Alloy wheels will normally improve the look of any car, when compared to normal steel wheels or wheel trims, but you can take this a step further by painting the brake calipers or drums behind the wheel itself.
This VW Golf Mk2 was fitted with Fox Racing Alloy Wheels and Michelin Pilot Tyres and so the car was just asking for the brakes to be painted!
The alloy wheels and tyres were bought for an absolute bargain of £87 on ebay, having had very little prior use. Then we also bought some wheel bolts and locking wheel bolts to suit, again, these were purchased off ebay!
Painting the brakes, drastically enhances the overall looks, making the brakes and the wheels stand out more.
Painting your brakes will also, encourage you to maintain and clean them more! There are special brake caliper paint kits available in a choice of colours, these usually come with cleaner, primer, colour paint, maybe some lacquer and a brush. I am not entirely sure of the contents! We have never used a kit as there is a cheaper and easier way!
Firstly you should obviously remove the wheel(s), then using a wire brush and a scraper remove as much rust, dirt and grease etc. as you can from the brake caliper or drum. You are best not to use any degreaser, or liquid cleaners as it may prevent the paint from bonding properly, or cause a bad reaction with the paint.
Then once you have cleaned the brakes and they providing they are dry, mask off any areas which you might otherwise accidently paint.
Then use some Hammerite smooth finish paint in whichever colour you choose. Not only is a tin of Hammerite paint, far cheaper than buying Brake Caliper Paint Kits, but the colours are usually better and you can achieve the final look in a couple of coats, without any special primers or lacquers. Also Hammerite is good for painting on the rusty surface (once all the flaking stuff has been removed) and it withstands high temperatures and stands the test of time.
Using Hammerite, saves a lot of time. You do not need to remove the calipers or drums from the car to paint them, its usually far easier just to brush paint them on the car. If you do remove them, you may decide to use Hammerite spray paint instead of a tin. Although both paints will give you a smooth finish, so whichever you choose you will not have any brush strokes visible in the paint. So there is no real advantage gained by spraying them, as the thicker brush coats, will reach the required colour/thickness in less coats.
It's always worth painting all four sets of brakes, even when you have brake discs on the rear, as you can see from the reults in the photos.
To paint the brakes with Hammerite was a very cheap enhancement & easily worked out at less than a pound each!
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