I used the Dupli-Color caliper kit, and was pretty happy with the result. These have two coats on them, I'll probably be putting more on over time as they require touch up. I have plenty left, like about seven ounces out of the eight ounce can. I didn't use the caliper cleaner, didn't like all the content warnings on the lable, so I used Goof Off. The brush was kind of poor, but I had some of my own, so it didn't bother me when all the bristles came out when I tried to clean it between coats (it's really sticky paint). Good paint though, and that's the important part.

Did I hit all the proper areas? I painted them on the car (I took the wheels off, yes), so the recessed areas didn't seem to lend themselves to paint, especially on what looked like the back of the brake pads.

 

When I did mine, I painted the back of the pads too. I thought it looked much better.

 

Maybe that's the look I'm after. I'll try one and see.

 

Nice job.....I really want to / need to redo mine and hope to get the car back tomorrow, but as winter is already here I fear I'll be waiting for spring

 

Thanks Jim. Bet it is cold up there!

 

Lol, its not actually that bad Mark, more like Autumn with temps at around 5 degrees or so, positively warm and still in my short sleeve shirts.

It'll be around -9 or so before I pull out the long sleeve ones and if it gets to -19 like we had a winter or so ago, I may even put on a jumper

As you can see, its not ideal for repainting the calipers just yet as the snow ( if / when it comes ) and ice turning to slush mixed with road salt will just eat into them anyway!!

Where in the US are you and do you get it bad?

 

I'm in North Carolina, and winters here are pretty nice for the most part.

 

Nice job!

Govatos is right, that's a good tip on painting the back of the pads too (almost then makes it seem like a "full" brembo caliper), but the pads have to be removed for when you paint them otherwise the paint will hold the old pads in place and make a future replacement difficult.

Also, I'd give it a few coats of a high temp clearcoat, makes it last MUCH longer while preserving the shine and making sure the color doesn't fade. This is the 4th car I've painted calipers on and the clear coat makes all the difference for a long lasting finish years down the road.

Lastly, you can get "Jaguar" vinyl lettering, which you can then clearcoat over...nice touch that I personally think looks great, and the decals are cheap, just google for them if you're interested.

Overall I think for us non-brembo owners the Jag calipers look great painted, especially with that clean retainer spring in place too, a nice clean look without the cost of switching to a brembo system. A few pics of mine just to share..

Fronts:


Rears:


With the stock 18'' double fives on:

(would pop even more with bigger wheels, but I'm happy with my XKR as it is )

 

Pomosv - firstly let me say, what a great job you've done on your calipers, all red n shiny and the Jaguar logo really helps to set them off. They really do look great, thanks for sharing.

I do mine on my A6 and redo them every year I guess....really need to get a good clear coat on them as I don't usually add it!

But, if you don't mind I have a question.......Why not paint the hub areas ( as hihlighted in your pic below ? )
When the wheel is attached the hub can be clearly seen and more before you actually see shiny brake disc / rotor.

I've edited your pic to include some arrows that show the area I mean....this looks old, dirty, rusty and tired looking compared to the beautifully painted calipers!

I've attached a few pics further down that show a new hub I was putting onto my vehicle and I had the opportunity to prepare it off the car, which is best obviously.
I've also done this when they've been on the car whilst doing the calipers at the same time.........It gives a much more rounded and finished look, don't you think?

 

Thanks Pomosv. I'll try those decals. Is there a brush on clearcoat I could use?

 

That red looks great on your silver car, and I like the decals also. I have ordered some. I'd like to paint my calipers as well, but can't figure out what color to use.

My car is the Titanium color, a bluish grey. I think that the red would be a little tacky looking on my car, and I have seen an Aluminum color that I could use, but it is so close to the same color as the wheels that I don't know if the calipers would even be noticeable.

Does anyone have a thoughts on what color might work?

 

I think you'd be very pleased with the red on your car.

 

[quote=Kevin D;430479]That red looks great on your silver car, and I like the decals also. I have ordered some. I'd like to paint my calipers as well, but can't figure out what color to use.

My car is the Titanium color, a bluish grey. I think that the red would be a little tacky looking on my car, and I have seen an Aluminum color that I could use, but it is so close to the same color as the wheels that I don't know if the calipers would even be noticeable.

Does anyone have a thoughts on what color might work?[/quote]


Like most everything else Kevin, its all down to personal taste. I happen to agree about the red calipers, they look great on Black and silver cars, but not on others.

Mine's a Deep blue colour and I ( as you have thought of doing ) have painted my hubs n calipers silver. They don't stick out like the Red calipers do, they're not in your face.....they're just there and give a very clean stock look!

 

Your experience may be different, but mechanics have good reason to hate painted hubs.

The wheels stick to the hub requiring such fine tools as sledge hammers and tire machine irons. That is, unless the mechanic knows the loosen wheel nuts and wobble around the parking lot trick.

 

Some great posts & pictures here. Well done, all. The Jaguar decals finish the painted calipers off nicely. Brembo, XKR, etc. versions can also be found on eBay. I put some Brembo decals on the factory-painted calipers of my Golf GTI a couple of years ago without clear coating them and they stayed on fine, even surviving the occasional jet wash.

I agree about the risk of seized wheels with painted hubs, though some copper grease before refitting the wheel should help.

Kevin, the calipers on my sky blue XKR are red and look fine, despite the two colours' not usually going together. I think they'd look great on your darker grey/blue.

 

Have to say Frog, you kinda made me eat my words with those pics on the colour combo....stunning!

 

Thanks, but I see where you're coming from: handpainting the calipers after the car has come out of the factory always requires more care and attention. Any aftermarket modifications need to be toned down, IMHO, otherwise you end up with this sort of thing

 

JimC64, you're right, the hub areas would look nice painted, I just haven't had the time to put into it, I actually had the paint bought and ready to go but instead used the time to mount the undersized 2.6'' SC pulley. The hubs also aren't visible through my 18'' double fives, though on 20's the hub painting would probably be more urgent. Will keep it in mind though!

Skid Mark - I used Duplicolor high temp clear coat in a can, you can get it as a paint on clear coat but I would advise to use the can, you get a more even finish and painting on with a brush could mess with the Jag decal lettering. If you mask off the disk, rubber bits and so on you should be fine with the can

Kevin D - I think the red would look nice with the lettering, the Jag decal almost makes it look like a factory finish. However, if you want to tone it down a bit you could always go for a gloss black with white lettering, I think that would look quite nice too and it's actually the stock color combo on several Aston model calipers:

 

Sometimes the lot comes off after some donuts!

 

Is that a 3000GT wheel?