I am interested in repainting my red calipers on my 2003 996TT. The paint has chipped in a few places & the paint has a burnished look in some areas on the front calipers. I've seen a few youtube video for DIY where people will mask off the brake area & use a VHT paint along with a clearcoat. I would like a professional looking job. Would it make sense to remove the calipers altogether, beadblast & do a thorough paint job.
Also, if I do decide to completely remove the caliper, do you completely bleed the brake fluid out of the system.
I done several searches on this & haven't come up with a solution.

 

I did this. I had them sandblasted and painted them with several coats of VHT paint and clear along with the porsche stencil painted in white VHT. I baked the paint in the oven. I turned out pretty good but it is not as good as stock. It seems to stand up to the heat just fine at least. I advise that you send them in to be done professionally. I think I made a thread about it in 2012 or so, you can search my name.

 

search for powder coating the calipers as an option, lots of color choices and good results.


if you are going to paint it yourself want something to look professional, you would need to totally pull it and replace the fluid while you are at it. only 20 bucks and 20 minutes to replace the fluid. you can buy the stickers online for cheap


or you could keep your eye on the market for a couple of newer calipers

 

I went the "mask and VHT paint" route myself. You cannot tell the difference from factory and it has lasted five years so far and still looks great. You can get the Porsche lettering on EBay cheap cheap and apply before the clear coat if you want perfection. For $20 and a couple hours playing with the car - awesome!

 

I was told that powder coat does not dissipate heat well so you have to stick with paint.

 

I should know this as I had bled my brakes a million times, changed out the rotors (to Girodisc) & changed pad many times. How do you remove the actual brake lines without get brake fluid everywhere. Do you use a power bleeder & take all the fluid out of the system. I also purchase 8 new nipples as a couple of them were starting to get stripped.
Lastly, any recommendations as to who could do a custom professional job if I wanted to go that route. I don't have the equipment to bead/sandblast back down to bare metal. I'm thinking of doing a custom color other than red this time. Maybe the PCCB yellow color.

 

I remember awhile back there was a post about Brembo not recommending powder coating calipers.

 

For street and cars & coffee use, powder coating works fine. It's a thick layer and thus provides insulating properties. For track use you want to paint it. In the ideal world, anodizing is best for heat emission. OEM Porsche calipers are painted by Brembo. Epoxy based paints will hold up the best but the key to having them last long is to make sure you have plenty of ducting providing cooling air to the brakes.

 

For longer lasting durability against heat I recommend colored ceramic coating.

 

i have a friend in fl who does p/c on the side. he can strip them down p/c stencil and if you send the seals he will install the seals as well. about 80$ a corner depending on the color you choose. he has about 300 colors to choose from.