From Brake Fade to Art, Refinished Brembo Calipers
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From: Cambridge, Ontario
From Brake Fade to Art, Refinished Brembo Calipers
RALLI///ART that is 
. Hey all, I just wanted to share with you guys what I have transformed my Evolution X brake calipers into. It has been a loooonnngggg process, from sandblasting, to cleaning to prepping to masking to painting to stenciling to painting again. Lots of patience with the refinish, but I think it payed off! I have to apologize for the garbage pictures, I didn't have access to a DSLR until tonight, hence the last pictures being the best.
Here's my original concept, just a quick concept. I simply HAD to do the black caliper with the RALLI///ART writing.
So, here's how they started. I promptly received my calipers from ExtremeDSM (once again thank you
) and got straight to work! Here's what the calipers looked like when I first received them. As you can see, they were quite faded from a lot of track abuse, but that is what inspired me to do this project 
.
The next day came around, and I started to project off with masking off the important bits (inlets and outlets, seals). After masking, they immediately went into the sandblaster. I used glass rather than sand so the metal doesn't pit, it worked well but took me way longer than I would have preferred.
Next up was paint. I used Tremclad high temperature paints. After many many coats, I was happy with the colour and the thickness.
After paint, I had my friend that works at a decal shop cut me some stencils. He can do high temperature stickers as well, so if anyone is interested, send me a PM and I can give you his info . He cut me Brembo stencils as well, but I wanted the RALLI///ART. The stencils he makes are designed for this application, they're made for precise edges, and to be honest, I think they did a great job.
Maybe having some fun in the process..
Next up on the list was masking. The stencils for this project (measured on the original Brembo press on) are 2x8cm and 1x4cm. Needless to say, these things are tiny. Masking off the three separate sections was a MASSIVE pain in the ***, you need to be super careful or you're just going to ruin the rest of the paint. Regardless, I though it went pretty well with care. I masked and got to work.
Tape removed
Dry, dry, dry so I can take it off 
So after I took a shower and got all cleaned up, I came back down to remove the stencil and see my work....
Things to note:
I painted a little thick, so the stencils lines COULD have been a little bit more accurate, however I'm 110% happy with how they turned out. They look absolutely stunning in person. The centers of the R and the A's on the small caliper were way too small to apply to the caliper, so I decided to remove them and just have a solid center. Also, I'm sure you can see the discolouring around the actual painting itself. The caliper face needs a slight wash to have the deep black all around .
Let me know what you think, I can't wait to mount these on the car!
Thanks for looking!
. Hey all, I just wanted to share with you guys what I have transformed my Evolution X brake calipers into. It has been a loooonnngggg process, from sandblasting, to cleaning to prepping to masking to painting to stenciling to painting again. Lots of patience with the refinish, but I think it payed off! I have to apologize for the garbage pictures, I didn't have access to a DSLR until tonight, hence the last pictures being the best. Here's my original concept, just a quick concept. I simply HAD to do the black caliper with the RALLI///ART writing.
So, here's how they started. I promptly received my calipers from ExtremeDSM (once again thank you
) and got straight to work! Here's what the calipers looked like when I first received them. As you can see, they were quite faded from a lot of track abuse, but that is what inspired me to do this project . The next day came around, and I started to project off with masking off the important bits (inlets and outlets, seals). After masking, they immediately went into the sandblaster. I used glass rather than sand so the metal doesn't pit, it worked well but took me way longer than I would have preferred.
Next up was paint. I used Tremclad high temperature paints. After many many coats, I was happy with the colour and the thickness.
After paint, I had my friend that works at a decal shop cut me some stencils. He can do high temperature stickers as well, so if anyone is interested, send me a PM and I can give you his info
. He cut me Brembo stencils as well, but I wanted the RALLI///ART. The stencils he makes are designed for this application, they're made for precise edges, and to be honest, I think they did a great job. Maybe having some fun in the process..
Next up on the list was masking. The stencils for this project (measured on the original Brembo press on) are 2x8cm and 1x4cm. Needless to say, these things are tiny. Masking off the three separate sections was a MASSIVE pain in the ***, you need to be super careful or you're just going to ruin the rest of the paint. Regardless, I though it went pretty well with care. I masked and got to work.
Tape removed
Dry, dry, dry so I can take it off
So after I took a shower and got all cleaned up, I came back down to remove the stencil and see my work....
Things to note:
I painted a little thick, so the stencils lines COULD have been a little bit more accurate, however I'm 110% happy with how they turned out. They look absolutely stunning in person. The centers of the R and the A's on the small caliper were way too small to apply to the caliper, so I decided to remove them and just have a solid center. Also, I'm sure you can see the discolouring around the actual painting itself. The caliper face needs a slight wash to have the deep black all around
. Let me know what you think, I can't wait to mount these on the car!
Thanks for looking!
Glad someone was able to use them. Everyone wants brakes in perfect condition and these were just what you were looking for and alot cheaper than perfect ones.
Thay look great!!!
Thay look great!!!
. Thought about putting some clear on those?
