I just finished glass bead blasting the set of calipers I acquired, and they sure look nice au natural ...
Should I paint them or leave as-is ?

 

I say paint them suckers!

 

I voted no, if you paint do not use red or yellow. Black is OK, silver too but why bother.

 

Paint

 

Paint...You can get VHT heat resistance paint (I used it years ago on headers) from the auto store for around 7.00 to 8.00... works great and comes in a variety of colors... Carl

 

G., I used the Metallic light blue Duplicolor caliper paint on Ashley's black Rabbit and they look really good.

 

I painted mine bright red with just normal car paint purchased from a paint shop (with a brush), some 6 months ago without any problem and they look great and have not chipped at all.

The red through the silver wheel really looks good, like the factory painted ones on a black coupe I nearly purchased. Well I assume they were factory painted to match the red and black interior. Didn't buy that one in the end got a silver blue instead.

I must update my photos to show this.

 

Title says rotors, you are talking about calipers, right?

I say paint them, even if it is silver or something to blend in, because if not, that grea au natural look will soon be covered in surface rust, brake dust, and dirt. If you do leave them natural, use a matte clear coat so they are easier to clean when you wash...

 

Amazing you were the first to catch that ! YES - CALIPERS, not ROTORS.
Thanks, I have decided to go with fire engine red and clear coat.
( they were/are already red, but look like crap warmed over )

 

I would seriously recommend the brush on acrylic type paint. I took the XF AMG Setup I have to my buddies body shop and painted them in the booth and baked them, look amazing. I did the ones on my fiances SUV with an acrylic brush on (after decent prep) and they look just as good. Since the acrylic paint is thicker, they stand up to rock chips much better and it was a hell of a lot easier than taking them off the car like I did with mine...

 

'Fiances' amazing how close it is to finances, do you think this is a coincidence?

 

Depending on what kind of paint is used, this would be a great way to only have the friction surfaces show bare metal (after the pain wears off) and keep the rest from showing rust.

I voted to paint, btw.

 

Thats what I used and with ceramic pads that give hardly any brake dust they look really good from car wash to car wash. Also bright red was my choice.

 

I fixed the thread title

 

Thanks, valk.

 

Definitely paint them. I purchased a caliper paint kit to do mine and they came out real nice. I chose red as well.

 

I say PAINT! Painting mine school bus yellow...:

 

Definitely paint. You don't have to go with an extraordinarily bright color if you don't want. I painted mine gloss black and love it. Used VHT caliper paint. Works great. Chips if you bang the calipers up when installing/removing the wheels. Do the crossfires come with the tool to hold the wheel while you get the lugbolts started?

 

No, but you can get them from Ebay, I did.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-MERCEDES-VW-SAAB-MINI-COOPER-WHEEL-LUG-BOLTS-TOOL-P-/120728477831?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1c1bfa6087&vxp=mtr

 

Match the bus color but not the speed I hope.