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Caliper painting

darcness

Go Kart Champion
Location
Grand Blanc MI
Car(s)
2008 GTI CW
Decided to paint my calipers today. The red was totally clashing with my bronze/white/black scheme and it had to go. It looks good with the winter wheels, but who cares about winter wheels? :biggrin:

I used some VHT caliper paint and some blue painters tape. I also grabbed some 400 grit wet/dry sand paper, a microfiber towel, and some dishsoap/water. I cleaned first withe dishsoap/water mix and then used the 400 grit paper and wet sanded all the surfaces. I didn't go down to bare metal, but just scuffed up the red paint that was already there. After that another bath with the soapy water and a final dry down with a microfiber.

I taped off the rotors and the wheel hub with the blue tape. Then, 3 coats of the VHT paint. First two coats were pretty light, and the last coat was fairly heavy. I also painted the dust shields while I was it.

I'm really happy with the results. I took a few shots during and after the process. Enjoy!







 

saucer

Leadfoot
Location
Asheville NC
Car(s)
08 GTI
Was searching for DIY's on this today :)

Good to know it's not necessary to pull the brakes for this...

Looks good :thumbsup:
 

darcness

Go Kart Champion
Location
Grand Blanc MI
Car(s)
2008 GTI CW
you have a lot of faith in that widow maker

That I do, maybe a little too much eh? :biggrin:

I was never under the car so no worries. I realize it's not a good idea to slam your car down without any wheels either. I just don't have any jack stands or other jacks at my apartment.
 

dustinwark

Miesian
Location
Portland
Car(s)
'07 VW GTI
That I do, maybe a little too much eh? :biggrin:

I was never under the car so no worries. I realize it's not a good idea to slam your car down without any wheels either. I just don't have any jack stands or other jacks at my apartment.

whatever works for you, i picked up some jack stands from harbor freight for $20 and a floor jack at shucks for $25
 

darcness

Go Kart Champion
Location
Grand Blanc MI
Car(s)
2008 GTI CW
Yeah I rarely do work on my car at my apartment. I don't have the tools I need here. I'm usually over my fellow MKVers houses or my buddies with the WRX. That way I can use their tools. :wink:
 

TwentyonePSI

Crody
Location
Toledo
Car(s)
FSI
Solid. Good choice of color. Better to go conservative and have something that can easily be used in another color scheme later, if you choose. :thumbup:
 

darkorb

Go Kart Champion
Location
Miss, Can
Car(s)
2008 Rabbit
holy crap, u had the widow maker holding up the entire side?

i was scared of just doing one wheel at a time with that jack, you did 2 at a time!
 

VW_GTI5

Eat Sleep VW
Location
Newport News, VA
looks good how much is the VHT paint. I was looking at kits yesterday because I want to change my red calipers to blue ones. The one kit I saw was like $70 bucks if there all that much screw that madness.
 

darcness

Go Kart Champion
Location
Grand Blanc MI
Car(s)
2008 GTI CW
Yeah, don't buy the kit, it's utter trash.

Get some wet/dry 220 or 400 grit paper. Then get 1 can of VHT caliper paint. Get some painters tape and call it a day.

I used regular dish soap to wash. I then wet sanded with 400 grit. Then another wash down and applied the paint. I had enough to do 3 medium/heavy coats and do the dirt/rock guards with 2 coats too. I still had paint left.

I think the paint is $9 a can or something. Tape and sand paper is likely under $10 together. For $19 you can do the same thing as the "kit".
 

Horus USAF

shhh Im thinkin......
Location
Osan AB, ROK
Car(s)
06 GTI
Looks pretty nice man, did mine in blue.
 

darcness

Go Kart Champion
Location
Grand Blanc MI
Car(s)
2008 GTI CW
Looks pretty nice man, did mine in blue.

Very nice. I really wanted to do some color, but it was either white, black, or bronze. Since I didn't want to take away the focus from the wheels, I decided on black. If I had a more colorful scheme going on, I could have gotten a bit crazy. Oh well, trying to keep things subtle anyway.
 
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