I'm in BC so its either me coughing up near 1k to get them repainted myself, or leave it as is. Never going to dealership for anything again after they charged me 4.7k for replacing factory clutch and fixing transmission housing.

 

$1000 to paint calipers? Is that doing everything from removing the calipers from the car, disassembly, powdercoat, reinstall, and bleed? Hope they serve you a nice steak dinner too! Ouch.

 

^^^^ I agree, ima try to go to thedealer myself but if they give me a hard time, then I'll just repaint them myself

 

It's no where near 1k to repaint them yourself.

This will help you:

http://www.evogarage.net/?p=109

 

you could stop using harsh chemicals to clean your wheels

 

Would they cover a chip?

 

They won't cover much of anything. I'll tell you my method, it's pretty quick and easy. Mine were pretty bad.

1. Remove the wheel
2. Use brake parts cleaner to spray down the caliper in question. Use a couple coats. You will notice the remaining clear coat peeling off as it seeps between the paint and clear coat.
3. Use some fine grit wet sandpaper and gently brush it over the remaining clearcoat. This should get rid of most of it, if not all. If it doesn't, use a bit more brake cleaner and something with an edge (I very carefully as to not scratch the paint used an eyeglass flat head screwdriver to chip off the last bits that were stubborn).
4. Use some new fine grit sandpaper to VERY GENTLY wet sand over the whole caliper - I REPEAT VERY GENTLY. Use lots of water to keep it clean. Be very gentle over the Brembo area.
5. Let it dry completely (I used a couple fans for about 5 minutes).
6. Once it's dry tape off the bleeder valve, the rotor, and any areas you don't want clear coat on.
7. Spray a light coat of high temp clear coat over the areas you want new clear coat on.
8. Let it dry for 10-15 minutes, and repeat step 7 again until you're happy with the finish (I used 3 coats).

I took mine to the dealership after they refused my claim and showed them how well they turned out. I had my fronts replaced when I got the car 2 years ago under warranty and you can't tell the rears weren't also replaced, they look perfect (except minor chips from rocks and such). The dealership actually said they would be doing this instead of ordering new ones from now on to save cost. It cost me about $8.00 to do both rear calipers and about 2 hours total.

 

I heard that when you clear coat it, even with high temp clear coat. It would still peel over time.

 

so my now pink brembo's will look like factory red when I clearcoat them alone (no paint)?

 

If you are out of warranty I would say 0% chance, they are 3grand, I just got mine replaced 2 months ago under warranty.

A warranty claim is not up to the dealership, its up to Corp. Mits, and I doubt they would do it, so the dealer would have to pay out of pocket to replace them

 

I guess that would depend on what quality the clear is... Majority of brembo OEM calipers to my knowledge are painted by hand and than clear coated... There are many OEM brembo's that do not have pealing issues....squeeling issues yes

For example: Acura (TL-S), Porsche, Ferrari.... here is a couple that I know that do not have popular peeling issues like Mits.... If I were to guess, Mits. chose to use a less quality painting processes than normal to save money.

Of course the calipers are Al, so get them stripped, and anodize 'em, not all calipers are painted.

 

I just chipped the rest of my peeling clear off, went over them with some simple green and re cleared them.
I used
Dupli-Color -CLEAR- Engine Enamel with Ceramic
Resists temperatures up to 500 degrees F
Durable ceramic formulation
Superior high gloss finishes
Oil and gas resistant
Will not blister, flake, crack or peel

They look good as new.

 

You can add to the list the AMG calipers, made by Brembo and paint holds up real well.

Anyone got a pic? Is it just paint issue? Does this also happen to the STi?

 

Given your area I would try South Coast Mits. They are normally understanding with warranty issues.

 

Even if your best friend worked at a dealer, he can't change the fact your car is a 2004 so any warranty claim wouldn't be accepted. That was how it was explained to me when my mechanic said I had a limited time to get my warranty issues submitted and resolved before my warranty ran out. Powertrain and emissions can have longer warranties. Items under recall typically don't expire.