What's the best way to clean the calipers and brackets? Last fall when my car was very new the brake calipers & brackets were a kind of shiny aluminum, especially the rears. Now, after a winter of gunk, the bright metal is somewhat dull and has some whiteish spots. I wish I could keep them looking like this: (see attached)

I know I'd need to pull the wheels....but what should I use on it?

 

Go buy a couple bottles of "brake cleaner" at your local auto store. Just spray it on the caliper and use a brush for the stuff that won't come off.



Before and after (Had to clean my calipers before painting them.)

 

so brake parts cleaner will work even though most of what's there doesn't look like brake dust or grease/oil? Hard to tell from the light in your 2nd pic but the bracket I think was shinier than that. (comparing to my pic - mine was after 2,000 miles) Mine almost appears to be tarnished.....but, maybe not.

 

Whoa, had to do a double take, the bottom looks really clean, I thought you cleaned it so well from the top pic you removed the Ford etching...

Hey Leo, can you use the brake cleaner on the zinc plating of the RotoPros as well?

 

I have to get a bottle of THAT brake cleaner! That's the first brake cleaner I have seen that can convert your single piston caliper to a twin piston.

I assume that applying brake cleaner to painted caliper is probably not a good idea. I'm looking to keep my factory painted Bullitt calipers clean.

 

I took a dremel with a wire brush on it to clean mine.
I really wanted them to look new or better than new.

 

^ That's a great idea.

I'm in the process of removing a bad Duplicolor paint job. Loads of chipping (yea, I know it's because I didn't clean them well enough), but I wasn't ever really impressed with the look of it either.

Got some enamel paint remover to help, along with a good wire brush.

I want to start from scratch before switching to the G2 kit so I've got alot of work ahead of me...

 

Warning,

Brake cleaner will clean the He!! out of your calipers , but also remove neccesary lube from the caliper slide pins and pad backing plates.

Found out the hard way about this.

TDS