# Painting rotor hats, etc



## MyWife'sPassat (Nov 16, 2001)

Didn't take long for my replacement rotors (ATE and Brembo) to develop rust on the hats.
I realize this is only cosmetic, but, well, it bugs me. I was planning to use high-temp caliper paint to cover it up, but am wondering if anyone has advice on what sort of prep I should do on the rusty areas before painting to ensure maximum adhesion of the paint. 
Seems like a tough place to be a coating!
Thanks,
DM


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## machschnelGTI (Jun 28, 2004)

*Re: Painting rotor hats, etc (MyWife'sPassat)*

The Duplicolor caliper paint will work well, I've done it many times. Clean all the rust off with a wire brush or sand paper, and go drive the car to warm the brakes up. Come back and take the wheels off, and the calipers if you don't want to paint those, spray the rotors down with brake cleaner to clear off any brake dust, and spray the rotor with caliper paint, You can spray the whole rotor...friction surface and everything, the pads will wear the paint off in about a day of driving. With the rotor warm, the paint will apply better and stick better than spraying on cold rotors.


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## MoTown-VW (Oct 8, 2002)

*Re: Painting rotor hats, etc (machschnelGTI)*


_Quote, originally posted by *machschnelGTI* »_The Duplicolor caliper paint will work well, I've done it many times. Clean all the rust off with a wire brush or sand paper, and go drive the car to warm the brakes up. Come back and take the wheels off, and the calipers if you don't want to paint those, spray the rotors down with brake cleaner to clear off any brake dust, and spray the rotor with caliper paint, You can spray the whole rotor...friction surface and everything, the pads will wear the paint off in about a day of driving. With the rotor warm, the paint will apply better and stick better than spraying on cold rotors.

What he said . . . except that I'll humbly disagree about painting the friction surfaces. The paint can contaminate the pads. I suggest masking the friction surface if possible.


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## GTI2001 (Oct 24, 2001)

*Re: Painting rotor hats, etc (MyWife'sPassat)*

Rusty hats really bother me as well. When I ordered new rotors all the way around for my car, I bought some flat black high-temp paint and put on about 10 coats on each rotor hat. Turned out great and has held up great for a few months now. I am hoping it holds up with the winter salt and crap that will be here before we know it


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## Geordie (Jun 22, 2001)

*Re: Painting rotor hats, etc (GTI2001)*

I used grey BBQ paint, nearly 60k miles ago, it still looks fine, no problems despite fading the brakes once driving fast down from the Sierras. I wouldn't paint the friction surface, I did mine before fitting and there's no problem with the paint sticking or drying. I sprayed the edges and inside while I was busy, the paint doesn't provide much insulation and I've seen disks with rust flaking out of the vented interior before.


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## machschnelGTI (Jun 28, 2004)

*Re: Painting rotor hats, etc (Geordie)*

Plenty of OEMs paint or coat the entire rotor...GM and Mercedes to name a couple....there is no problem with doing it.


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## MoTown-VW (Oct 8, 2002)

*Re: Painting rotor hats, etc (machschnelGTI)*


_Quote, originally posted by *machschnelGTI* »_Plenty of OEMs paint or coat the entire rotor...GM and Mercedes to name a couple....there is no problem with doing it.

GM, Mercedes, ect coat the rotor with zinc based coatings like Geomet, Dacromet, Magni B09 or Worwag. Those coatings are applied in thin coats (maybe 5 _u_m) and turn into very fine dust particles when the pad is applied. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Paint (like United, Kalcor, Continental and aftermarket paints) on the other hand, is always masked from the friction surfaces because the thickness is much greater (maybe 100 _u_m) and tend to glob up in the pores of the lining material as the pad is applied. That causes friction loss and smoke issues until the globs burn away. http://****************.com/smile/emthdown.gif


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