Thinking about a little weekend project, wanted to get some thoughts/opinions. I was thinking about ordering Akebono ceramics for the front, green G2 caliper paint (yes green), and some high temp caliber decals similar to the stock R's. Pads and paint will both be ordered from Tire Rack.

Now here me out. I have used that G2 paint on two vehicles when the existing calipers started to look a little beat. Red on my Porsche Brembos and black on my Infiniti FX45. The stuff is fantastic and durable. Almost has a rubbery look to it after a few coats. The stocks are silver, and to be honest I'm getting a little bored with them. They are prominent through my 5 stars so I want them clean looking and in good shape, and the silver isn't cutting it anymore. The ONLY reason why I think my black STR could pull off the green is because all of the R emblems, hood badge and center caps are green. That's the accent color. Plus it is somewhat of an exotic car with huge beefy calipers, and its not like I'm doing it on a riced out Civic. Just juggling it around in my head right now, but would really like to use other colors besides silver or black.

Since the wheels will be off, ill get a good cleaning on the inner rims and was thinking about throwing some Akebono's on the front. I've read a bunch of threads on brakes and for those of you that have these pads do you still like them? Also, for someone that is not really a DIYer, what is the difficulty level on changing these fronts with the Brembos? Keep in mind I have NEVER changed pads before, lol.

Ok, let me have it.

 

Akebono's, highly recommended from me, but you probably already knew that. I was a little apprehensive about the xk8's first set of front pads & rotors, but it was pretty straightforward. I had only changed Jeep brakes before, and TBH, this was no more difficult. Just need the right tools to do it correctly. Be careful with that pad clip, you can scratch any 'new' paint easily if you don't re-secure it with caution.

As for the green caliper paint...<teethclenching>. I went to your STR album, and imagined the green calipers... i personally think it will be a little too much accent color with that much of the caliper showing between your 5-star wheels. But, how about considering a fresh coat of caliper paint...in silver (hear me out) and then putting a green decal on it? You get the best of both worlds. The fresh silver would be pretty flashy compared to the stock 'iron' <-- assume it hasn't been painted before?

 

Akebono work as well as the factory pads and have much less dust then the factory or EBC reds. Infact, I still have the red on the rear and the dust level is 3x higher in the back then on the front.

Its the easiest DYI brake change. You don't even have to remove the calipers! Just take of the wheel, use a small punch to knock out the two pins, anti rattle clip comes out then push the calipers back to take out the old pads and reverse the process to put the new ones in. The only tricky part is there are four pistons and you can play wack a mole trying to get all four back at the same time. May be easier to have push back with the pads in. I have a tool that goes in from the top after your remove the pads and moves all of the pistons back at the same time (works for the Porsche too). Just make sure you push on the pedal a few times after changing the 1st one before the other side so you don't risk brake fluid overflow from refill container.

Agree with you that the silver is a bit too plain. I like the bold colors and the "porsche red or yellow" seems to go well regardless of the car color so I'm sure a bold green will do the same, especially for a black car. There's some guy on the web that can do custom decals...maybe a black Brembo or leaper vs the R thing.

 

I too was quite apprehensive about changing my own brakes, but I found some info online and it was actually very easy to do.

This Acura site: LINK has a brief write-up, and some very helpful pictures.

One quick note, if the pads don't fit perfectly, make sure the caliper housing is clean, and then apply more grease. I made the mistake of grinding off a little bit of the new pad to make it fit. Now there is a noise emitted whenever I change from front to reverse and it doesn't sound very appealing (my dealer told me it just sounds worse than it really is).

As for the color, what shade of green are you looking at? A bright Lamborghini green could potentially look good, but a dark British racing green might not have the same effect. Keep us posted!

 

Thanks for the feedback, here is an idea of color: I think it may nail it on the head if applied properly, and I'm pretty good at that. I've been back and forth all morning on this......







I like the shade of green, i just dont want it to be TOOOOO much. People must think I am crazy staring at my wheels for long periods of time. Trying to invision, but wont know until its on! Also I cant find any US sellers that have hi-temp decals, I like the leaper idea, but a black "jaguar R" would look nice as well.

As for the brakes, I have NO tools, and the only thing that freaks me out is that they are not adjusted properly ending up in having to "push" down farther to get grip. Also the whole piston thing freaks me out

 

Be sure and post where you get the caliper decals!! Mine are getting a bit ragged looking from the brake fluid. You would think a $60K car would have powder coating on the calipers to resist brake fluid. It appears to just be a silver paint??
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Agreed, I am 99% sure it is silver paint on these. Starting to look beat up...

 

Bull, you're way too OCD on this! First things first - have you had your lower front panel sanded and repainted yet? I'd surely do that first before even thinking about painting your calipers green or purple or fuschia or whatever you decide to do there....

 

HAHAHAAHA good one, I knew i'd get something out of you on this caliper paint project........Yes, I should have my front bumber sprayed first, needs it BAD. However, this is a DIY project $50 if I only want to do the calipers, and another hundo for front brake pads if I include them. $350-$400 for front bumper. So much to do, head spinning.

Love the fuschia reference.