Hi All,

Well received my 312's off ebay.

My question is whats the best way to prepare them for painting. Got some Smooth Hammerite original Green which most people seem to recommend.

Do I need the Hammerite Primer?

Made a start getting the Brake dust off the Callipers and Carriers tonight with wheel cleaner and a nailbrush and tooth brush then rinsed them off.

They came up fairly well but was going to do them again over the weekend.

What's the next step in the pre-paint phase?

Also if anyones got any pictures of any they have painted and exactly where you should and shouldn't paint that would be very useful.

Thanks in Advance.

Hewey

when i painted my calipers i used one of those shaft mounted wire wheels mounted in a power drill to get the brake/road crud off before using degreaser then brake cleaner... but be careful you dont damage the caliper piston seals if you do it like that

What's the next step in the pre-paint phase?

After de-greasing, I just painted mine Hammerite Red... TBH, I'm pretty bad at painting and It wasn't a pretty job. Looks okay from behind the alloys. Some people have used Hammerite primer, but I thought it was a bit excessive. Only been running the brakes for a week so I can't say if there is any issue or not.

Thanks,

Phil.

When I purchased and fitted mine, I split the caliper from the carrier and removed dirt and brake dust.

For painting the carriers, just paint everything except the holding pins.

For painting the calipers, I painted everything that wasn't plastic, rubber, piston or the nipple section.

With the paint, I did not use primer and went with 2 coats of japlac high gloss enamel red, giving each coat plenty of drying time between coats. I personally found that during painting, the paint did not look particularly good - it seemed quite thin and the coverage wasn't fantastic. However, I found that the paint had a kind of elasticity (cannot think of a more appropriate word) that came to life when drying and once dry looked fantastic.

For this reason, I'd defo suggest at least 2 coats of green and ensure that you give it plenty of time to dry - don't rush it and try to paint and fit in a day as the end result could be rather poor.

Have fun

As above, I just used brake cleaner and then degreaser. Once dry, I just put two coats of paint straight on (I used Humbrol Enamel FWIW, which has been brilliant over the last 6 months, including jetwashing...)

I scrubbed mine with brake cleaner and a wire wool brush, then i painted them with hammerite, the 1st coat on with a brush and a further 2 coats with a spray version of hammertie.

They came out really well.

Thanks for the Reply's guys,

Stupid question I know but what did you use as a degreaser.. good to see I've never painted anything before.

Didn't seperate the Calipers and carriers last night so may do that over the weekend if people think thats the best thing to do.

This is how they currently look:

The Yellow Stuff Pads came with the Calipers, I have standard new Mintex Discs and Pads to go with them so don't worry won't be using the yellows!!!

Edited 8 October, 201015 yr by Hewey

Split the carriers from the callipers - will make it much easier to clean up and paint

Split the carriers from the callipers - will make it much easier to clean up and paint

Cheers Gareth will do, thanks for your earlier advise too.

No probs mate,

Hope you get on ok.

Once the 312s are on, be sure to give feedback - i'm sure that you'll love them, (imo) they are awesome brakes on the Fabia and an essential modification.

I scrubbed mine with brake cleaner and a wire wool brush, then i painted them with hammerite, the 1st coat on with a brush and a further 2 coats with a spray version of hammertie.

They came out really well.

They look much better than mine did... well done

Phil.

Stupid question I know but what did you use as a degreaser.. good to see I've never painted anything before.

Try a drop of JIZER

Try a drop of JIZER

Cheers so after all the cleaning is done wipe them over with Jizer, do I then need to rinse that off or just paint once it is dry?

Really am a novice at this aren't I..

Is it possible that we're taking degreasing too far here??? (Amusing name though)

From the pic you've posted of the brakes - they look like they're 90% ready to go. You can see the small amounts of brake dust still to clean, which would be easily to get at when the calipers & carriers are separated.

For mine (and perhaps I missed a step), I brushed over with a wire brush, wiped over with some meths and slapped the paint on. They've looked awesome for over 7 months since fitting to car - apart from the discs, which are as separate issue altogether.

Edited 9 October, 201015 yr by Gareth_1.8T

Cheers so after all the cleaning is done wipe them over with Jizer, do I then need to rinse that off or just paint once it is dry?

Really am a novice at this aren't I..

It says whats what on the tin, but If I recall you brush it on,

agitate with the brush to loosen deposits, rinse off and dry the part thoroughly

it's handy stuff to have in the garage for cleaning oily dirty

car parts in any case.

It's been around for donkeys years :yes:

Edited 9 October, 201015 yr by grr666