Rebuilding and painting my calipers

[DennisCA]

Not for a Volvo but I've refurbed brake calipers. Electrolysis is what I use to get the rust off. It takes mostly time to let it work.

[FireFox31]

@FireFox31 can I bother you for an update now that they’ve seen New England winter?
Especially curious how the Cerakoted pistons have held up.

You know... I have never used them. I paid like $1000 for all new (rebuilt) Volvo calipers and like $1000 to have them powder coated (along with dust shields and more). Then my life got busy and I never got to installing them, or even driving the car that they're on. I'm not sure I ever wrote up the details of the process in this thread but I'd like to. And if you want to use the shop I did in north east MA, look up Drew's Powder Coating in Pepperell, MA.

The calipers sure look amazing, including the Cerakote. As I remember, there was a tiny bit of metal on the pistons which could not receive Cerakote, so it felt like a weak spot in the system.

I was picky about how to lubricate the bone dry calipers upon reassembly. I finally found specific caliper assembly grease, only available at some odd BMW shop or something, imported from Germany. I can't find the info immediately but I will post it eventually.

In other news, a good rear NAPA rebuilt caliper on one car had both of its piston seals fail after just one year, rusting the piston slightly, freezing it against the rotor, destroying the pad and hurting the rotor. Warranty replaced it but I'm out a set of rotors (might get that one damaged face machined). THIS is why I am ok with paying $2000 for new calipers to be powder coated. I never want a brake caliper to fail, demanding immediate attention to resolve a job I've done so many times. So... I'll let everyone know how my ultimate solution works if I ever get them installed.

[FireFox31]

Not for a Volvo but I've refurbed brake calipers. Electrolysis is what I use to get the rust off. It takes mostly time to let it work.

Nice work. What paint did you apply to the calipers? How have they held up over the years?

[DennisCA]

It's only been one year but it was simple 1k brake caliper paint, they still look fine though. What I would like to do is replicate the original finish which is yellow zinc plating. I know where to get the stuff but haven't had the time or inclination to try it.