last fall i did a half *** job painting my calipers. i am soon to be getting new rims and tires so i want these babies to look good. can i just take them off and sandblast them to get the old paint off? or should i do a varsol type paint remover?

and antother thing, would anyone suggest putting a base coat of some kind on the caliper berfore painting? if so what kind. ty

 

I would not sand blast them just to eliminate any risk of sand staying behind. ESP if you have the four piston calipers since you cannot split them in half.

If you use a base coat make sure it is high temp primer.

I used a brass wire wheel on the end of a drill. It worked great. I would go that route.

You should rebuild them while you are at it. It is SUPER easy to do the front and the rebuild kit is rather cheap.

James

 

good call, i think the rebuild kits are like 10$ from mazda. ill proby end up doing that. as for the wire wheel, i tried it a little bit before..... it didnt work so well. what size of wheel did u use?

 

Do not sandblast them. Sandblasting has its place and purpose... like stripping paint off sheet metal... but you don't want to use it around delicate rubber seals and clearanced bores/pistons. You also do NOT want to get sand in e-brake actuator shafts... and when you sandblast, no matter how careful you are, sand gets everywear.

You could use a chemical paint stripper.... but again, it could be a problem with the rubber seals. Its also messy, and dangerous to the clothes and skin.

Personally, I use a plain old brass wire wheel, either in a drill or a 3600rpm bench polisher/grinder. I can control where the wire goes, it works quickly, and leaves a nice finish for paint to adhere to. Its not very messy, and provided you wear clothes, gloves, and eye protection, its very safe.

For paint, do NOT primer. Brakes get very hot, and will destory primer.

Instead, lay down 2-3 wet coats of VHT brake paint. Its $5/rattle can, it leaves a nice, high gloss finish, and the paint is very resistant to scratching off or being eaten by brake fluid/ brake cleaner. Also, the heat from the brakes will cure the paint, and actually improve its gloss.

 

I use a 8"wheel mounted in a 3600 rpm bench polisher or a 5" wheel mounted in a low-speed cut-off tool.

 

the bench grinder is a great idea. no primer-4 wet coats .

thanks alot for the help guys

 

OT, but a have a correction for Wankel7. You CAN split Mazda 4-piston calipers in half. They are bolted together and use 2 o-rings to seal the mating halves. I have done this with my own hands, so I know this is true for at least some of them. Now, there is little reason to split them, but I was rebuilding them, wanted to do a good job of cleaning and was curious ;-)

 

Thats correct. I have sand blasted my 4 piston calipers with much success.

 

Of course you can. However, the FSM and Hayes recommonds you do not split them.

I don't wanna mess around and risk a front caliper leaking when i might need them the most.

James