So I change my brake pads yesterday, and managed to chip, scratch, and pull the clear coat in some areas of my front calipers. The car only has 15.5k on it so I'm pretty pissed.

First of all, someone please explain to me how it's possible to change the pads without doing some type of damage to them... I was trying to be as careful as possible, but still managed to screw them up. When I was using pliers to push the pistons in to remove the old pads I covered the calipers with a shop towel, and still put deep scratches in them. When Hammering the pin back in, paint chips. Then in some areas it looks like the clear coat has been taken off. Can copper anti-seize strip the clear coat? I was making sure to wipe it off as fast as possible. Then when putting the wheels back on, I hit caliper and of course caused a paint chip...

Here are some pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28929927@N03/8239552692/http://www.flickr.com/photos/28929927@N03/8239552692/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/28929927@N03/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28929927@N03/8238486837/http://www.flickr.com/photos/28929927@N03/8238486837/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/28929927@N03/, on Flickr

What is my best course of action? Do they have to be re-painted? Is there touch-up paint that could be used? If this is not fixed immediately will the problems only get worse?

Thanks...

 

If the clear coat is damaged then it will likely get worse over time, peeling separating etc. Sort of a once it starts thing.

Some of the scratches look like they are only superficial and might be able to be improved through some combination of sanding, wet sanding, re clear coating, polishing(?)...Maybe.

Note: The above are guesses, they could be way off the mark but I hope I was some help.

 

I'm looking for a quick fix right now. At this point, I really don't care about how it looks, but don't want the calipers to start corroding where the paint has been fully chipped off.. Brembo calipers are made of oxidised cast aluminum so I don't know how the react to the atmosphere with no paint on them...

I've read that Guards Red Model Paint can be used, so I may try that out for now, and then full re-paint the brembos after the winter.

 

The calipers aren't going to self destruct if you have some chipped paint. If you're worried about how they look then you have two options: pay a fortune to have them powder coated by a shop, or spend an afternoon and paint them yourself. I'm sure there is a DIY floating around but ill explain briefly how i did mine. TBH i probably spent $25 redoing all of mine. If you go this route, make sure you have newspaper and tape to make fittings/holes off. Also don't get the stripper on your skin. Hope this helps.


remove caliper from the car and hose is down with this stuff



use a wire brush or something to get ALL of the paint off down to the bare metal. Make 4-5 LIGHT coats with this stuff. Let each coat dry for maybe an hour


Go on ebay and buy some $5 high temp brembo labels. When you apply, make sure the caliper has been left to dry for 2 hours or so, otherwise the moisture in the wet paint will lift the letters.



clear everything over with several light coats. Let dry, reinstall calipers and dont mess them up again with the wheels this time.

 

Thanks for that! I was actually checking out the Brembo paint how-to and it looked fairly simple, and your post just made me more confident.

I noticed a lot of people hang them up with a coat hanger, is that the best option when painting them?

 

+1 on the solutions above

second, ive highlighted exactly where you went wrong..... use a nail set to tap the pins back in so you arent smashing the pins in with a hammer..... if your gonna use a tool that has any kind of teeth in them to apply pressure and dont want to wreck it you need more then a shop towel layer a shop towels and a small piece of would. something to take the bite away.

 

That works, but remember you'll have to bleed the brakes again. Up to you what takes more time...bleeding or prepping them on the car and masking everything off.

I picked up the DupliColor kit. Found it much easier to brush it on than spray it on. I have been advised though to ditch the brush in the box for something a bit better.

Although, I'd give anything for mine to look as "bad" as yours do right now. LOL

 

Yeah I wasn't really thinking at the time. I was doing it at night, and had crappy lighting in my garage so I was getting very frustrated and did not notice the damage I was causing.

It also comes down to improper tools. I was using a Phillips head screwdriver to tap out the pins so the surface area at the point of contact was not very large. It made it impossible to push them back in with the screwdriver and the hammer. I will have to invest in a nail set.

I also need a better method for pushing the pistons back in. Basically what I ended up doing was using a flat head to push the piston back in. I kept pushing 1 in and then the other until I got them "balanced" enough to fit the new pad in. This is definitely not the way to do it. I almost just want to invest in the Girodisc Caliper piston spreader, but I don't think it's worth it for me...

Also, is it possible that the anti-seize compound could have stripped the clear coat?

Can't you do a much better job completely removing the calipers? I'm going to be getting a power bleeder soon, so I don't think bleeding the brakes should be that much of a hassle?

For a quick fix I may just just use some brush on paint.

The calipers looked mint before my stupid *** started working around them... That's why I am pissed. I also thought that they would corrode with no paint on them.

 

i removed mine and then had to bleed them its a pain in the ***.... just like you i ran out of daylight and had ****ty light to finish. taking them off is worth it tho.

 

I'm confident I could do a better job with them removed from the vehicle. If I did that I would spray them too. However, bleeding the system again is a pain. Plus as the other post mentions, just the sanding and painting process takes a weekend.

Plus, when I start doing things like this...I would be tempted to replace things like the lines w/ SS because, you know...I already have it apart. LOL

It's a snowball effect...tough for me to fight at times.

 

I wish my Brembo's looked that good

 

Super clean

 

if you try and do them on the car theres a chance you'll get over spray on your paint, so it's really not worth it. When i say masking, i meant masking the pistons and bleed fittings etc on the caliper when it is removed from the car. you dont paint the inside-middle of the caliper.

Of course if you remove the calipers from the lines you will need to bleed/ add fluid but i said my description was brief. Bleeding all 4 calipers with the wheels off+ car of stands shouldn't take more than an hour.

Yes, coat hangers work fine however i just let mine dry on newspaper (you don't have to worry about paint coming off if you do LIGHT coats and let each one dry properly)

 

please dont spend $250 on that spreader tool... get a towel and a $5 c-clamp

 

And a thin piece of wood?