MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGA - Painting brake calipers

I've just sand blasted my 1960 brake calipers back to their original condition and would like to preserve the natural cast finish. Can anyone recommend a paint or finsih that will resist brake fluid and solvents.

thanks Andy
restoring a 1960 Coupe

Andy Preston

You could use a clear, flat (or satin) urethane based paint. Also if you are completely rebuilding your brake system with new components, consider the use of silicone brake fluid. This is not as aggresive as regular brake fluid.
Harald Govers

There are paints available specifically for calipers.
They are available from Moss or the big chain auto parts stores. I'm not sure if they have a clear but it's worth a look. You may want to check out Eastwood as well. I believe that a non hi-heat paint would disappear pretty quickly.

Rich
Rich McKIe

Like Rich said, you would definately want a high heat paint. I believe Eastwood has a high temp cast-iron colored paint.

VHT has a 900 degree clear gloss for brake calipers and drums. Don't know about their brake paint, but I used their 1200 degree flat aluminum on my exhaust manifold and it has held up well. It needs high temperature to cure, and I heated mine in an old gas grill to cure it. Here is one link. http://www.cacustomcoatings.com/brcapaca.html


Jeff Schultz

PS: You will probably want to blast them again just before painting. Cast iron starts to form rust almost immediately. Here is the stuff I used on my manifold.

http://www.speedunleashed.com/VHT_Paint_SP11X_Header__Exhaust_Paint-p-19386.html
Jeff Schultz

I blasted, then painted my exhaust manifold with several coats of "VHT hi-temp Nu-Cast manifold coating", colour SP-998 cast iron, which is designed to withstand temps to 1500 degrees F, or 815 degrees C. (out of an aerosol)

This left my manifold looking like a new casting, greyish-brown in colour. I did this about 8 years ago and it is still looks the same as the day I did it.

Another tip - for the brake drums, I used matt black barbecue paint (again an aerosol) after blasting them. ('56 1500 has 4 drums) Again these have stayed the same as the day I painted them and I drive the car hard and long. They look great through the wire wheels.

You should be able to get this VHT paint in California from an auto supply shop, except that the can is covered in hazardous, poison, extremely flammable labels, so might be banned there! It is made in Scotsdale, Arizona, by PJH Brands.

Happy hunting, Peter.
P. Tilbury

This thread was discussed on 04/01/2007

MG MGA index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.