Re: caliper paint

[Matt Haas <mhaas@xxxxxxx>]

Armand,

DupliColor makes pretty nice spray paint (they also sell paint specifically 
for calipers) and I've had great success with their normal body paint on my 
68 American. Three things to keep in mind with spray paint are:

1) It's mostly lacquer paint (brake fluid has no problem eating this type 
of paint).
2) Follow the directions to the letter (including surface prep and what 
type of coatings, if any, to use underneath it).
3) It comes out very thin so you need multiple coats to get enough coverage 
for it to last. I think I did 4 coats of color and 6 of clear on the rocker 
panel of my American to get a thick enough film to stand up to the light 
driving I do with the car.

Mixing paints and primers from different manufactures or even different 
paint lines from the same manufacturer can cause problems with the color 
coats and primer coats not bonding (this may be more of your problem than 
the brake fluid itself). There is a lot of chemistry involved with paints 
and the manufacturers spend a lot of time and money making sure products 
work well together. Pick a brand and product line and only use products 
that the manufacturer says are compatible.

Also, you're never going to get a show quality paint job or current OEM 
durability from a spray can. The best paints are catalized and dry over 
time which makes than impractical for spray paint. Lacquer paints, on the 
other hand, dry by evaporation of VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds -- this 
also makes them illegal for sale in some places, like California) but this 
is very old technology. Paint has come a long way since this lacquers were 
introduced.

Matt

At 10:39 PM 6/4/2005 -0500, you wrote:
> What a joke, I paid like 8 bucks a can for plasticote caliper paint. that
> stuff turns to water when  little brake fluid touches it. The two part epoxy
> primer I put on before the red caliper paint is much tougher than the
> plasticote crap.
> I still haven't tried the plastidip rubberized stuff. What else have you
> guys used to paint brake components?
>
> Armand

mhaas@xxxxxxx
Cincinnati, OH
http://www.mattsoldcars.com
1967 Rambler American wagon
1968 Rambler American sedan
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