so disappointed in black powder coating for calipers

[mykwikcoupe]

About a year ago I buy a set of reman type r calipers to go with my AEM brake kit. I tear them apart and have them powder coated here locally. the guy gives me back all the parts and they look amazing. i quickly reassembled them and stored them to install at a later date.

Fast forward to this weekend. I pull down the box and take them out. take apart the stock setup and install these. pretty straight forward right. Not quite unfortunately. My brakes felt a little mushy since the last time I swapped around pieces so I started off by bench bleeding the master cylinder. this of course makes a hug mess as I wrestle with trying to get things tight. I'm exaggerating on the mess only because the car has no grease, grime or other things then dust on any part of it.

I clean up my mess with simple green and the hose to be sure that what the drop rag didn't get doesn't damage anything. i wipe my hands and move onto the calipers. I pull the stockers off and install the new type r calipers. I had everything laid out and ready to go. Little did I know that the little bit og brake fluid left on my fingers from handling the stock calipers turned the black powder white. the 1st caliper isn't bad but still it has marks of white. By the time I get to the second unit I have fluid on my palms and assembling is touching everything. Most of the caliper is white now. I have stainless lones, new almost everything and dalmatian colored calipers. i should have just sprung for the brembos.

[2oodoor]

I hope yall know brake fluid eats paint.
I am surprized so little affected powdercoating though.
Maybe when they get good and hot that will not look as obvious?

[Dr_Snooz]

That is a major bummer. I don't know much about powder coating, but is there a chance that there are different grades of powder coat where some are more resistant to brake fluid than others? It seems unusual that it would do that.

[cygnus x-1]

That is a bit surprising since powder coating is usually pretty tough. But there are different types so maybe the type you have is not so good with brake fluid. Can you post a picture of them?

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[Vanilla Sky]

I've worked with powdercoated brake parts that didn't have this problem. It sounds like everyone else has said and the wrong powder was used. Some of that stuff isn't any more chemical resistant than Krylon, but some of it will protect against nuclear meltdown.

[mykwikcoupe]

I got a pretty decent deal on it guess. 45 to spray and bake both calipers but with this being the finished product I'd say it was a waste. At least they wont turn that great rust color instead. I'll snap a pic in a bit

[cygnus x-1]

I got a pretty decent deal on it guess. 45 to spray and bake both calipers but with this being the finished product I'd say it was a waste. At least they wont turn that great rust color instead. I'll snap a pic in a bit


That kinda sounds like a lot to me. The place I use is usually no more than about $10 a part for simple stuff. The price goes up though if they have to do any significant masking or stripping.

But I would have to agree, any color is better than rust.

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[Bluntman]

I have never seen that happen with powder coat.This is just a quote from a website...

What about powder-coating or plating?

Properly cured powder-coat is quite resistant to brake fluid, as is any kind of plating. Either makes a very nice finish for brake parts. We have been told that epoxy powder is more resistant than polyurethane powder, so you may want to ask your powder-coater if he offers your choice of color in epoxy. We ask that powder-coating or plating be applied before sleeving. We take quite good care of plated or coated cylinders.

[Bluntman]

Also two important words are "Properly Cured". If not it is no better than Krylon paint.

[mykwikcoupe]

Definatly a lesson learned. I wont be using that shop anymore. If I ever have a reason to pull them off and apart again ill try it again. Thanks for the knowledge upgrade

[cygnus x-1]

A few years ago I decided to repaint the (aftermarket) bumper on my truck, which had been previously powder coated. I don't know what kind of PC it was but it was the toughest stuff I have ever encountered. The only chemical that would even touch it was methylene chloride (paint stripper), and even that would only soften it up a little. I spent 2 solid days removing that stuff, alternating between stripper and sanding. Looking back I should have just taken it in and had it professionally sand blasted.

Anyway, yeah. It would be worth checking around with a few different coaters to see what they can do. You might also have them do a test piece first, like just a simple piece of scrap metal or something.

EDIT: I also recently painted all my calipers with POR15 primer. We'll see how that holds up.

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[Oldblueaccord]

When I worked at a PBR plant we powered coated all the steel ones. But I can't say if they held up to brake fluid. We would use a ball peen hammer to test one if it chipped it was bad.


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