Yesterday, something strange happened... My wife and I were sitting eating breakfast watching the news and subsequently the weather report for the day. It was, going to be sunny and in the 70's. Perfect day to do something outside. Out of nowhere my wife blurts out, "Since it's going to be nice, let's go outside and have a car day." I sat there speechless for what seemed like an hour while nervously gripping my cup filled with Bailey's and coffee. All the normal thoughts ran through my mind and some not so normal... "What did she do? Is this some kind of sick joke? What's the punch line? How much did she spend at the mall? If I forward that email to 1 gazzion of my closes friends, will Bill Gate really send me $1000 bucks?

This was truly a first. Ya see, my wife drives cars. That's pretty much it. She doesn't spend hours making sure everything is just right or fondle and talking to her car like myself. My car days are reserved for the guys. Which is normally spent washing and maintaining our four wheeled girlfriends, drinking a few beers.

Sure, my wife will washes her car by running it through the auto car wash, but that's pretty much it. Drive and occasionally wash and vacuum her car. Yep. That sums it up…. But to want to spend the afternoon hanging out in the garage toying with the cars, is simply unheard of. In fact it's probably considered unnatural in some if not most of the world's religions.

Long story short, she wasn't bluffing! She actually spent the afternoon washing (BY HAND!), vacuuming and even WAXED her car. I on the other hand decided to polished my brake calipers since my car was already spotless. Pictures attached…

 

Holy Cow! I know his wife and I'm equally speechless. Looks great, Paulie! Now I'd like to see how her car looks...

 

Well first of all, do you have a write up on how to do it. I think they look pretty awesome. Are you able to shoot some high temp clear coat or something on them to keep them nice. Please any info much appreciated.

 

It's pretty easy... Best of all you can leave the caliper on the car. It took an hour for each side with power tools.

The surface is pretty rough and porous. Start by sanding. This is a four step process. Using an electric or pneumatic hand sander is WELL worth it.
1) Sand with course grade paper until you have a semi smooth surface. All the pours should be gone…
2) Sand with med grade paper
3) Sand with fine grade paper
4) Finish by sanding by wet sanding.

Polishing: I used a Dremel tool. After sanding, I used a mini wire wheel and semi polished the caliper. Then I finished the completed polishing with the dremel buffing wheel. Don't forget the buffing wheel dressing / wax.

Since this was a last minute deal, I did not coat the caliper with high temp clear. But will in the future.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the tip....they look good!

 

Now THIS I want to do....looks awesome!!!!!!

Why didn't you polish the other part? do you think a dremel could be used to do the whole job?

 

Man that does look great. I was going to sand and smooth mine up and then paint them red for a more professional looking caliper but I like the polish idea even more! Do you have pics of the back ones? Maybe I could still paint mine red and polish the part you left natural? That should look pretty cool.

Mike

 

I didn't get to the backs done yet, but I do plan on doing them. I think the polished, is more a unique look. I like them painted, don't get me wrong, but a lot of people have painted caliper and not many have the polished look.

 

so do you think this could all be done with a dremel? that is all i have.

 

WOW, that looks fantastic!!!

 

Am I the only one who is thinking that your calipers will rust? I mean don't get me wrong... they look great. But that's bare metal now. I would seriously consider at least spraying some clear protectant. I thought about sandblasting mine with my handheld sandblaster and my compressor... but I would then immediately paint them.

 

What am I missing here,.... I would LOVE to see these calipers,.. BUT DON'T SEE A PIC or A LINK TO ONE???????????
RZ

 

+1... I think that when they revamped the site they lost some pics

 

exactly pics were lost when site went down last time. nice to revamp a totally dead thread though

 

Bailey's and coffee for breakfast! I prefer Jack and eggs~

 

Why do people get so bent out of shape when someone bumps a thread, it isn't even a year old.

Besides, do you view every single thread posted in Exterior Mods? If not, and if you aren't subscribed to the thread, what's the big deal?

Anyway, 2006GT, you should write a how-to on getting your wife to have a 'car day'.

 

i never saw this thread..I would like to see those polished calipers ASAP

 

me 2

 

They should look like they have been chromed. The Mustang calipers are aluminum and can be sanded as the thread originator stated. I would deviate by using a buffing wheel and some aluminum stick polish after sanding. This will melt the top layer of the aluminum and cause it to flow with the end result being a mirror finish. A coat of clear high temp paint will preserve the finish from oxidation. You could even have them powder coated with a clear finish. Way back when, I built a few choppers and this was an inexpensive way to make the aluminum side covers on the motors look like they were chromed.

As far as the stick polish is concerned, Sears sells a 6 pack of metal polishes, the white stick in the kit is for aluminum. You can do as I did and go to a machine shop/tool and die supply outlet for the polish.

BB

Semper Fi

 

Sorry all... I was just notified that this thread came back to life....

Here's some pics... BTW. I have not sprayed them with anything. They still look great with no fading. Now... I also did my valve covers. Those did fade because they're magnesium. I had to repolish them and then coat with a high temp clear.

PS- the first one is "before"