jered6323

Hello everyone! I am a happy new owner of a 2009 HHR LT, as of this past Saturday. I'm having plenty of fun looking around at all the mods, and planning things out.

I'm thinking of painting my brake calipers (and drums too, if things go well), but am debating on color. My HHR is Aqua Blue Metallic, and I think the calipers would look good matching the car, but another part of me says to just go with red. Thoughts? Recommendations? Tips?

sleeper

I think you gotta decide a color you can live with..

Many like to color match, I prefer to add accent color.. Either way looks better than bare steel or rust..

jered6323

The other thing is, they don't make caliper paint in that exact color (unless I want to pay $100 to color match), but I can buy a thing of touch up paint that's color matched for $20. Does buying caliper specific paint really make a difference? I've read plenty of stories from people who just used regular touch up paint (automotivetouchup.com) that worked out fine. Just wondering there.

Also, being the newbie that I am to all this, what about priming? How should I go about that? I want the finish on the calipers to match the metallic gloss finish of the car.

Sourpatchkid

I'm not sure where you got the "$100 to color match". I used to work in a Auto paint store and we would get the paint code off your car,mix the paint, and put it in a rattle can for $20. This was 10 years ago. YMMV

ETA:You will want to use an etching primer on the bare metal before painting.

jered6323

Thanks for the tip about etching primer!

I think it was duplicolor's website that said $100 for color matched caliper paint. Which is why I'm just thinking of buying regular paint from automotivetouchup.com.

Also, should I use brush on, or spray on?

firemangeorge

The 2 pictures below are mine painted 3 weeks after purchase and how they look today. Almost 3 years and 25k miles.
Nothing special like "caliper paint". Just regular old rattle can paint. About $4.
The bottom picture they are a little dirty. You can see that the painted parts on the rotor didn't hold up as good.

Attachment 13428

swerv0428

I painted my mine with a engine enamel. Holds up good to high heat. I went with a color match. I have a red and white theme and carried it over to the brakes. And our Mazda i did the same. Blue car with blue brakes. And as far as a color matching paint. I found a can of blue at the auto store for seven bucks. Matches the mazda perfect.

jeff schaffer

Like swerve i went with High Heat engine enamel I went with black because white would get dirty way tooo often i would be painting constantly!
jeff

kwe45919

I have my opinions on painting brakes but it doesn't apply to other peoples cars. I do mine black and black only. I just don't care to have them color matched or any other color. I just don't want them to stand out and keeping them clean on a daily driver is more of a pain than I'm willing to endure. Black stays black and you rarely have to touch it up.

sleeper

Did mine in 1964-81 Chrysler Red from eastwood . com engine paint w/ceramic.

Good to 650*, Brush it on & it levels out like sprayed. Looks like glass, deep gloss. A quart is $30. But could probably paint 5 or 6 rides.