Hey everyone, so I have a few days off and I am planning on doing some painting. I think I'm gonna start off and paint the 2 black support bars in the engine bay, sorry I don't know the technical term for those, and if I have time I'm going to paint my calipers. The 2 support bars I'm not worried about at all, but does anyone have any tips for painting calipers? I've never done it before so any tips on how to tape things up, best way to clean them, etc. would be much appriciated. Also, how do you guys think it would look with those support bars painted white and having 327 (for cubic inches) painted in red. I was originally just going to paint them white and paint the bolts red and then that idea popped in my head. So I'm interested in seeing what you guys think. Again I apologize for not knowing the technical name for those. Thanks for any help guys and gals

 

Support bars; I think you mean the caliper brackets? For the calipers, I'd recommend unbolting them from the bracket and paint them detached from the bracket, and I'd also recommend unbolting the brackets from the steering knuckle if painting those as well. One, it's way easier to paint the parts that way and, two, you have to mask less stuff. Also, getting paint onto the entire caliper looks more professional than just painting what you can reach when they're still assembled.

Are you spraying or brushing the caliper paint?

 

If you are going to paint your calipers I'd recommend the G2 kit. It's applied via a supplied acid brush and can be done with the calipers on the car.

 

I'd still highly recommend removing the calipers to paint them, even if painting with a brush. That way, you can get coverage on the entire caliper and also not over brush/spray onto other parts in the process. It might take more time removing them but it's going to give you a more professional result; like they came from the factory that way. I've used both applications, brush and spray; brushed the calipers (red) on my 03, sprayed them (black) on my 06. Both times I unbolted/removed the parts being painted.

 

x2 on the G2 Kit. It's very easy and works great

 

I used the Eastwood Ceramic Brake Caliper Paint:

Eastwood Ceramic Brake Caliper Paints

The only tip I would have is don't get in a hurry. Take your time cleaning and prepping because it will be the biggest factor in how well your paint job turns out.

 

I always use aluminum foil to wrap small parts that you dont want to get paint on. It goes on and comes off easy. When I painted mine I cleaned them up with brake cleaner and a wire brush then soap and water. I used spray but have also heard great things about the G2 kit.

 

X2 on prep. I cleaned them good and sanded mine as well, just to get a little better adhesion.

 

Here's mine on the 06. These were sprayed with DupliColor's caliper paint. The first pic is one of the rears before paint and the next two are the fronts during paint. I unbolted the calipers from the brackets and left the brake line attached. The first pic gives an idea of what exactly I taped off, then I actually layed onion skin paper (yes, part of my architect supplies) in the wheel well for the overspray. I'm thinking about painting the Cruze's calipers (red) and, if I do, they're getting done this same way.







Removed the brackets and painted those separate on the drive. The machined surfaces got masked with tape.



And the finished product.

 

The support bars I'm talking about are under the hood of the car. Like when you pop open the hood the 2 bars on either side that go from the front of the car back to where the struts are at (hopefully that makes sense). That was just another painting idea I had to help make the engine bay pop a little more. And i haven't decided on if I want to brush them or spray them yet.