Finally got my powder coated calipers assembled!

[gsodonis]

I finally found time to assemble my (spare) powder coated calipers. Attached are some pics. The color is 2006 Chevy Corvette Victory Red. I originally wanted something a bit brighter, but these look great in daylight and were a stock color (at my coater's) so they cost me a bit less money.

When I disassembled them, I spent a couple of hours removing the sand cast marks with a hand grinder and flapper disk. The end result justifies the means as the final finish is smooth as glass. I highly recommend the extra effort.

Napa carries replacement bleeder screws at around $1.20 each. The size is 10 x 1.0 mm. I had to run a tap through all of the threaded holes (bleeder and mounting holes - 20 total) to clear out the stray powder coat, so the rebuild took a bit longer than expected. Otherwise, it's a straightforward job.

The rears are easy to re-assemble. Lube the piston seals with some break fluid and gently press the piston past the seal until it bottoms out. The boot goes on last and secures with a circlip.

The trick to doing the fronts is to change the order that the parts go in.
First - install the seals into the caliper grooves.
Second - (unlike the rears) put the boot onto the piston at the piston top BEFORE installing the piston. Do not lubricate the piston - if you do, the boot will want to slip off too easily - just lubricate the seals. Slide the boot down (pop it out of its groove) until it is about 1/4" from the bottom edge. Now there is enough boot hanging from the bottom to allow your fingers room to manipulate it and seat the boot's outer circumference into the groove in the caliper. You'll know when it is in place when it 'looks' right and you can actually twist/rotate the boot a bit without it popping out of the groove.
Third - Now press the piston gently past the seal until it bottoms.

I'll install these in the near future with some Akebono Pro ACT ceramic pads that I found on Advance Auto Part's website for a decent price. They were $59.00 each pair with free shipping and if you type in the word REBATE in for a promotion code, you get an additional 10% off. My total outlay for these pads was $106, and that includes new shims.

If you have the time, the look of powder coated calipers can't be beat. But there is A LOT OF WORK involved. The ones for sale by AFBeefcake on this forum are a real steal - the only reason I didn't go that route is that I like to do things myself and my costs were lower (labor not withstanding).

[gsodonis]

Here are closeups of the smooth finish you can achieve by using a hand grinder and flapper wheel on the calipers and the brackets prior to powder coating.

[Chiketkd]

Very, very nice!

-Chike

[SVXRide]

Originally Posted by Chiketkd

Very, very nice!

-Chike

Ditto!! Nice job...it was definitely worth the extra work. Now you're going to have to get some rims that have enough spacing between spokes to really show the calipers off!
-Bill

[gsodonis]

Originally Posted by SVXRide

Now you're going to have to get some rims that have enough spacing between spokes to really show the calipers off!
-Bill

My SVX is already rolling on a set of 18" Enkei RS6's. There's enough room in there to add 3" in additional brake rotor diameter. My current calipers are already red, but they're painted with caliper paint. Everytime I wash the wheels, the water drips red from the calipers. I powder coated my spares to eliminate that problem and becaue they look so much better and are so much more durable.

[gsodonis]

Here's how the 18" Enkei's look on an SVX. Rolling stock are a set of new Firestone Wideoval tires. The 225/40/18's cost $140 each (discounted from around $180 ea.) at a Firestone dealer and there was an additional $88 dollar rebate ($22 each tire) on top of that. These are basically badge engineered Bridgestone Potenza RE750's with a slightly different tread pattern, but if you look at them side by side, you can see that they were twins seperated at birth.

[ensteele]

Nice job. They look great.

[Khalil]

I need to buy some rims.... how much them cost you?

[gsodonis]

The Enkeis came with the car when I bought it. I was very fortunate; the previous owner had the same taste as I do and had already installed every mod that I would have installed. The last time I looked, the 17" version of the Enkei RS6 was around $150 each; the 18's are going to be a bit more.