so im home this week with no work and decided to try and restore the brembos...they still have the original paint and were horrible...im talking about missing chunks of clear and whats left is discolored turning yellow etc as you can see in the pics...i saw a thread here from 05 - 06 about a guy that did this to his front one but paint was good because well, at that time the cars were fairly new...i didnt want to paint them because i would want to remove them to do this and just didnt feel like doing all that...plus i couldnt find the original paint and i like things looking as stock as possible...i only took a before pic of one of them because i remembered on the last one but you get the idea...they may look better if painted and cleared but im happy with the results...this will do for now...it breaths life into her...plus for $15 and couple hours can't beat it...oh and you get to clean the wheels inside too...might as well since their off anyways right?...without further ado here are the pics...

before


after sanding





after

 

Nice. I may have to do this, mine look like yours did. What did you use to sand? Scotch Brite or fine sand paper? Rattle can Clear or spray gun?

 

sorry i was in a hurry when i posted it lol...i had some sand paper left over in the shed and used that...first i got a wire brush and went over it...grabbed a small flathead screw driver to help me scrape the clear...i didnt have to apply much pressure...the clear would just fall off...i was very careful around the letters...i then wet sanded it with 500 grit then 1000 grit...this is what i had lol...washed it then wiped them down with brake cleaner...applied 4 coats...worked though...i used a rattle can from advance...dupli color engine enamel 500 degree stuff...couldnt find anything else that seemed like it would hold up...gonna have to sand the last one a bit and redo it because somehow the can shot a blast of clear without me being ready and got some runs...

 

Cool my car is going away soon I'll have to try this out

 

i'd be all over this if i wasn't just gonna boil it right off again LOL. looks awesome, though! nice job.

 

thx man...

 

How did the backside turn out?

Since you chose to paint them still mounted to the knuckle, I'm curious to see how you got back there.

 

i cleaned up the backside as best i could but strangely enough the back side still looked great...the front was a mess compared to the back...i plan on removing them in the future and doing them right...im curious to see how long these hold up with the clear i used...i sprayed 4 coats on each...lets see...ill try to remember to update this thread as time goes on...

here is another pic when mounting wheels...in this pic you can see a couple of chips on that caliper...i chose to not touch up the chips and clear over it...its hard to see any ways...this was one of the worst calipers...oh and btw check out the clearence between the wheel and the caliper...like 1/16" lol...i bought the car with these wheels...like i said...for $15 and a bit of my time this is an awesome thing to do for your car...everyone that has seen it cant believe i didnt repaint them and that its still the original paint...my friends said it wouldnt work...i was happy as hell to show them and see their reactions...oh and the big i told you so lol!

 

Are those rota grids? Do you know the offset by any chance

 

yeah they're grids...in the back it says 18 x 9.5 and under it there's a 20 stamped so I'm guessing the offset is 20...I bought the car with these wheels...they're damn near new...might sell em...I just am not into gold on white...let's see...

 

They are et20 front and rear? Fenders rolled?

 

this should be in the how to forum.

 

yes fenders are rolled...no problem with rubbing...it has 235/40/18...only reason its still on there is because they have meat left...i dont like the stretched look...im either getting rid of these wheels or having them redone and putting wider tires on it...dont know how wide i can go before rubbing becomes an issue...

If you want to put it in the how to forum im ok with it but im sure theres plenty about brembos on there lol...

 

Looks great!
If you don't mind, what steps did you take to do it?
What grit sandpaper? (Wet sand I assume?)

 

He told us earlier in the thread.


-pal215