Want painted calipers? Don't want to spend $600+ on them?

[kai2002]

Great write up! I also painted my calipers the same way in late Dec, 2 days after I got the car, my neighbors thought I was nuts. I recommend doing this right away after getting the car so the cleaning/prepping is waaaaay easier. Also, order the decals in time, I had to wait for a week, so I painted first but then I had to take all the wheels off again to apply decals and spray with clear coat.

Masking the rear calipers is a major PITA, I can second that.

Also, I painted the inside of my brake rotors. Don't have the photos at hand rn, but they look like this
https://www.autozone.com/brakes-and...e-rotor/duralast-brake-rotor/5486_313089_2708

Looks very sharp combined with the red calipers.

For $250 I'd def have a body shop do it, but in LA the cheapest quote I got was $800 if I remember correctly.

 

[XLR82XS]

Painting rotor hats is a fantastic idea to prevent corrosion. I've done it on many cars over the years. Black and grey.

 

[yerEVan]

Has anyone put the car on a lift and removed the calipers to make it easier to paint them? I have access to a shop with a lift so wondering what’s harder, the removal of calipers or the taping off of the car? I prob could have a mechanic help me remove calipers.

 

[Jefsla]

Has anyone put the car on a lift and removed the calipers to make it easier to paint them? I have access to a shop with a lift so wondering what’s harder, the removal of calipers or the taping off of the car? I prob could have a mechanic help me remove calipers.

would like to know this as well.

 

[KenC]

There are a few people who track their cars. They most definitely remove their calipers. Just DM one of them.

Having said that, if you remove your tire, you can look on the backside of the caliper and see what it would take to remove. Probably a couple pins, under rubber gaskets. I removed calipers on a BMW and a MB, to replace rotors, and caliper removal was fairly easy, even without a mechanical lift. However, the calipers need to be supported, when removed, don't just let them hang via the brake lines. Spraying is likely to be easier, but brushing, maybe not.

 

[bigroo42]

the seatbelt swap out is intriguing. I wonder how closely the blue color matches the Tesla blue paint? I also have a center console wrap (from somewhere out there) that is blue. but it doesn't quite match the blue (like not at all ) so, i wouldn't want to have too many different color blues. Actually matching the center console would be more important since they would both be on the interior. what to do, what to do?

 

[Fusion]

Wondering if the shops remove the calipers or just mask and paint like this.

 

[yerEVan]

Wondering if the shops remove the calipers or just mask and paint like this.

The one place I saw they masked. The didn’t remove calipers.

 

[Trips]

the seatbelt swap out is intriguing. I wonder how closely the blue color matches the Tesla blue paint? I also have a center console wrap (from somewhere out there) that is blue. but it doesn't quite match the blue (like not at all ) so, i wouldn't want to have too many different color blues. Actually matching the center console would be more important since they would both be on the interior. what to do, what to do?

I got some color samples last September from safetyrestore.com and they had four different shades of blue. I would not do a dark blue seatbelt if you have the black seats. I ultimately decided to go with a contrasting color against the blue.

 

[silentcorp]

I got some color samples last September from safetyrestore.com and they had four different shades of blue. I would not do a dark blue seatbelt if you have the black seats. I ultimately decided to go with a contrasting color against the blue.

Any pics?

 

[bigroo42]

i emailed them and they are out of the cobalt blue but i asked for the royal blue. i think it will match my center console wrap better.

Side note, @silentcorp how hard was it to remove the seatbelts? is there a youtube video of this? don't want to get in over my head, especially on something as integral as a seatbelt. thanks!

 

[silentcorp]

i emailed them and they are out of the cobalt blue but i asked for the royal blue. i think it will match my center console wrap better.

Side note, @silentcorp how hard was it to remove the seatbelts? is there a youtube video of this? don't want to get in over my head, especially on something as integral as a seatbelt. thanks!

I actually haven't done the seat belt swap yet myself. I was thinking of taking it into a shop to remove the belt but have been pretty lazy. I haven't found a good video showing the removal of the seat belts and all my research shows there is a proprietary tool you need to remove them that Tesla won't sell. Soooooooo..... let me know what you find!!!

 

[calidreamz808]

Hey folks, I've gotten a few questions about my calipers. I painted them myself as I didn't want to spend the cash on getting them professionally done. I figured some others may have similar feelings so I wanted to show how I did it and of course the finished product. Each wheel took about an hour and a half total. I didn't clean the calipers prior to doing this as my car was still really new, but there are caliper cleaners you can buy if you need. I apologize up front for letting everyone down with my messy garage, not all of us Coloradians have such impeccable organizational skills!!!

Let me know if you have any questions, have a great day!

Products I used:
VHT High-temp caliper paint

• Real orange color (2 cans)
  
• Gloss clear (1 can)

High temp caliper Tesla logos from eBay

• I got the black ones but they have other colors too

I did this one wheel at a time using a jack from Harbor Freight (3 ton I believe) and a Model 3 jack pad.
Using painters tape I taped all the parts on the caliper and the break itself, this is a fairly easy process on the front ones. In the pics below you can see I taped off the metal pins as well to keep those in good condition. I used a few white garbage bags (can see the over-spray much better than a darker bag to make sure you aren't painting anything you don't want to) to mask off the wheel well and the car itself. I slit one bag and then pulled it over the caliper to fully protect the disc and break.

I sprayed the caliper with the orange 3 times, giving it about 15 minutes between each coat. I then used the clear coat for the last 2 passes. Make sure to use the spray can to get every angle, don't just spray from the front but get in the sides/bottom as well.

Closer pic of the front left caliper mid-painting job:

Notice the painters tape protecting the inner parts of the break components and the one at the top for the metal pin.
Putting the logo on took me way too long, I measured a bunch of times and made sure they were as perfect as I could get them. I applied these after they had a chance to dry for 20 minutes or so.

With the wheel back on (sorry it wasn't too clean here):

The rear calipers were MUCH harder to mask properly. These took me about 45 minutes alone to get the painters tape in the right spots. I had to tear each piece of tape to fit properly which took me longer than expected. I actually did the fronts one day and the rears the next weekend.

Same technique using a few white garbage bags to mask of the rest of the car/wheel:

Finished the rear wheel, toyed with putting on a Tesla "T" logo or even the Model 3 "E" but decided against it:

Finished product:

Bonus middle of nowhere Utah pic:

Sick blackout detail with that red.. legit. thanks for the share.

 

[Cintoman]

Has anyone put the car on a lift and removed the calipers to make it easier to paint them? I have access to a shop with a lift so wondering what’s harder, the removal of calipers or the taping off of the car? I prob could have a mechanic help me remove calipers.

When I painted (spray painted with High Temp Brake Caliper pain) mine, I removed mine, however, I still left them attached to the brake line. By removing mine, I mean I tapped out the 2 retaining pins, removed the retaining clip, removed the brake pads, then went behind the caliper, unscrewed the 2 bolts hold the caliper in place, then slid the caliper off the rotor. Even though I still had to tape quite a bit, it made for a much easier painting of the caliper. And I didn't have to worry about getting paint where I shouldn't (brake pads, rotors, etc).

Here are a few pics of what I did for the fronts. I did the same thing for the rears, including removing the ebrake piston motor.

-Cintoman

 

[Cintoman]

Rears. As you can tell, I took everything I could apart (except disconnecting the brake line). That way, it made for a much cleaner painting. Plus I didn't just blindly spray the pads, clips, bolts, brackets, etc. I either removed them or taped all those things off. Looks more professional that way.

-- Cintoman

 

[capelleti]

Done!!! Got the high temp model 3 caliper decals and knocked out the back wheels this weekend too. Clear coat over the decals so hopefully they stand the test of time.

The back calipers were definitely a beast to mask around... goodness. I need to do some touching up (got a little bit of overspray in places as you can see haha) But overall, am happy I save myself hundreds $$$

Hi there, I'm planning on doing this tomorrow. Similar to your case, I won't be getting the decals until next week though. Having said that, did you hold off on spraying the clear coat until you put the decals on? Or did you still spray them with clear coat before and after? By the way, how are they holding up since you did this? Thanks!

 

[Mr X]

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$250. Comes to your house.

 

[Nguyenning]

Hi there, I'm planning on doing this tomorrow. Similar to your case, I won't be getting the decals until next week though. Having said that, did you hold off on spraying the clear coat until you put the decals on? Or did you still spray them with clear coat before and after? By the way, how are they holding up since you did this? Thanks!

you’ll definitely want to spray clear coat after putting the decals on. It protects them and essentially seals them permanently in place so to speak. Otherwise it’s just a sticker vulnerable to the elements.

holding up well after over a year now I think! Hardest part is masking around the rotors and misc. areas.

 

[capelleti]

you’ll definitely want to spray clear coat after putting the decals on. It protects them and essentially seals them permanently in place so to speak. Otherwise it’s just a sticker vulnerable to the elements.

holding up well after over a year now I think! Hardest part is masking around the rotors and misc. areas.

Thanks! So you didn't apply clear coat right after painting, right? You only did after the decals?

 

[Trips]

I painted mine, let it sit over night, put the sticker on and then the clear coat.

I used the orange G2 and it looks good unless you really are looking close. The break pad pins were the hardest part for me. Safe Jack stands are great and I would look at borrowing or buying 2 of them for this project.