Polishing Brake Calipers (99-04, Works on Cobra Brakes as well)

From 3.8Wiki

Polishing Brake Calipers

Is there any point in polishing them? - Nope. Does the car dissipate heat better? - Nope. The only reason to do this is because it's unique, it's a nice project to instil pride in you and your car, and I think it's a lot better looking than just some paint. This polishing guide applies to Cobra calipers as they're aluminum and have the same principles. The only problem is there are the two holes in the center, but I've seen a few people buy some polished metal inserts to match the polished caliper surface for shows to make them look uniform (I wouldn't drive with the metal inserts as I am not sure how the expanding of the aluminum will react to the inserts in the holes). These pictures aren't the best but they give a nice guide to work off.

If you are swapping brakes, removing them to replace with new ones, or just rebuilding them (See this guide for caliper rebuilding) then this is ideal. This can also work if they're on the car but it's much easier to when they're removed and you don't risk any metal shavings getting between the pad and rotor, etc. I advise that you rebuild the calipers at the same time. It's not required, but I think it is a good idea and it can make the project easier. I got the parts to rebuild the caliper (dust boots, caliper seals) from http://discbrakesrus.com/ and the rest of the hardware from Autozone (bolts, etc.) Upgrading to SS lines is also a nice idea as well. and pads. Like some Hawk HPS (both available from American Muscle).

Please note Ashentep has a guide already but it's missing some pictures that I have. Together with my tutorial you should have a great guide from start to finish.

Contents 1 What You Need 2 Procedure 2.1 Step 1: Digging In 2.2 Step 2: 120 grit 2.3 Step 3: 400 grit 2.4 Step 4: 800 grit 2.5 Step 5: 1000 grit 2.6 Step 6: 2000 grit 2.7 Step 7: Polish 2.8 Step 8: Check and Touch-Up 2.9 Step 9: Optional Painting 3 Results

[edit] What You Need

• Aluminum Calipers

• Sanding Block - This will save your hands some wear and tear.

• Sanding drum attachment and Drill. This will be used to sand the PBR logo down. Grab an 80 and 120 drum. There should be a little kit that comes with 60, 80, and 120 drums and the attachment in a little 3-pack.

• 120 Grit blacksand sandpaper - I prefer the blacksand 120 grit because it's slightly harder than regular wet/dry sandpaper and will cut the bare/rough cast metal better. It also last longer which is crucial since the surface is so rough initially. I got this stuff at Lowes.

• 3M Wet/Dry 200, 400, 800, 1000, and 2000. You can grab these at Autozone in the paint department.

• Microfiber towels - Used for polishing/wiping

• Polish - Adams is best, but Busch polish is great too. Any metal polish will work.

• Buffer/drill attachment - If you want you can buy a little buffer attachment for your drill. It's easier than by hand and yields better results, but it's not required.

[edit] Procedure

[edit] Step 1: Digging In

Attach the sanding drum and 60 grit drum to the drill. Grind down the PBR logo on the top of the caliper until it's virtually done. Don't grind it all down just yet. When it's nearly gone (try not to grind down a flat spot) switch to the 80, then the 120. Stop when it's uniform with the rest of the caliper surface. Also be mindful of any seam lines from the casting that need to be evened out. This will save time later on

[edit] Step 2: 120 grit

Now switch to the 120 blacksand on the sanding block. Begin sanding the entire face and top of the caliper in a left to right motion. Keep sanding in the same direction the entire time you're sanding (regardless of the grit) to keep a uniform appearance. Once the metal is properly sanded down, switch to the 400 (Step 3). NOTE: The cooling fins are actually a Ferrous metal (ie, Iron) so sanding them will only cause them to corrode. Also they're a ***** and you really won't see them so I would skip them. Also note that the small divots in the edge are extremely hard to polish properly and I would either skip them or just spray them black (see Step 9).

[edit] Step 3: 400 grit

Now begin sanding like you did before (same direction, even pressure) over all the areas you sanded with the 120 with the 400 grit. You should see the surface becoming very smooth and you should be able to to feel it becoming smooth.

Here you can see the surface roughness is being reduced and it's more uniform. Also note the PBR logo is gone and seamless. You can also see where the surface is lower and needs more sanding (near the cooling fins).

[edit] Step 4: 800 grit

Now it's time to really start polishing. Begin by sanding (again as previous) with the 800. The metal should start becoming reflective and should start resembling something that's polished.

Again note the PBR logo is ground down and where I stopped sanding. You don't have to sand the far edges near the fins, but I did anyway.

[edit] Step 5: 1000 grit

Repeat the sanding with the 1000. Once it starts to become really smooth and it looks like the metal is not changing it's reflectivity switch to wet-sanding with the 1000. Again repeat until the metal no longer changes it's appearance.

[edit] Step 6: 2000 grit

Repeat the sanding again with dry 2000, then wet 2000. Take your time with this as the finer and better the surface is prepped in preparation of polish, the better the shine will be.

[edit] Step 7: Polish

It's time for polish. Either polish by hand or polish with a buffer. It's easier to begin by hand so you can get at the edges of the fins. Apply some polish to a side, work it in with a MF towel for a bit until it turns really dark, then remove by buffing with another MF towel.

[edit] Step 8: Check and Touch-Up

If you want take a look and examine your work. If there are any chips, imperfections, etc, you can go back and re-wetsand with 2000 and repolish. I was anal and redid mine twice but the second time was because I scratched them while they were in storage.

This should be your result.

[edit] Step 9: Optional Painting

If you like now you can paint the back of the caliper black for a higher contrast. Mask off the polished surface, clean the unmasked with brake cleaner and apply some High-temp black header paint. Baking it for a bit also works (if you bake it really high, disassemble the calipers and then bake, 200 should be alright though). If you want you can also spray a high-temp clear (Summit Sells a VHT High temp, 1000F gloss clear) but I could not get it to apply evenly as I suspect the surface was too smooth for the clear to stick too.

Here you can see where I masked the caliper off. If you get paint on the polished surface, just wipe with brake cleaner and re-wetsand with 2000/polish if need be.

[edit] Results

You're done. Only upkeep is hitting it with polish every so often but the hard work is already done and now it's just a little upkeep. One member has had polished calipers in the winter with salt and reported that only some polish in the spring brought them back to shine easily.

Here is a picture of the calipers on a car. This picture is taken from Ashentep's website and tutorial.

The following picture has been used from this tutorial to show the cobra calipers that are polished as well as the two metal inserts that were mentioned above.