Alright fashion police, it's time to make sure I do the right thing! I'm doing a TT front brake upgrade, along with SS lines and drilled/slotted rotors on all 4 corners. As part of the project, I plan to paint the calipers so they will look nice and new. I would like to get the valued opinion of my fellow CL-ers on this. To help you make an educated guess , here's a pic of my ride. And, yes, those are the wheels that I currently have and will stay with after the brake upgrade. They are 18" AT Italia Flashsports. Polished lip and painted graphite centers.

 

Black, because it matches the car dummy!

 

I would def. go black on this one Glenn.

 

Red calipers do not add 50 RWHP!
Maybe at the crank.

 

Yes, but if I paint the calipers on the rear red, I should realize a 50 HP gain at the rear wheels. I wonder how much more stickers will add? Of course, the weight of the decals may offset any performance gains.

Seriously folks, it looks like the consensus is black. So, (and I should have had this in the poll ) should I go flat or gloss? Any Lexus, Soarer, or TRD graphics on the calipers, or is that getting too rice-a-roni? I'm leaning toward no badges, but I'm open to any suggestions that don't suck.

 

I would go with a glossy black. As for stickers, I'm not opposed to seeing Lexus caliper stickers on there.

Tim

 

Since your car is black all colors would look nice. Hey what stainless steel lines did you buy? If you are going to use stainless steel lines in the back, the Supra TT ones won't seal and you'll end up with brake fluid everywhere. I thought using Supra TT brakelines would work with the calipers. It sounded like it made sense but I was wrong. The threaded part of the steel tubing does not mate properly on the car but does on the caliper. I just want to save you some time and pain if you haven't already found this out.

Go red BTW. It is not rice since these are pretty large calipers.

 

Thanks for the tip! I still have not ordered my SS lines from Carson yet, so I'll be sure to talk with Steve before I do. I'm also going to order TT dust shields for the front to keep things clean. I test fitted the calipers a few days ago, and they clear my rims with about a quarter inch to spare. Thats better than I expected. Most Supras appear closer than that.

Anyone know where I can find a good quality Lexus decal in white or silver for the calipers? I'm not sure I'm going to use them, but I would at least like to see the quality of what is available.

This may be a stupid question (Actually, there are no stupid questions, just stupid people who ask them. ), but is brake fluid just brake fluid, or are there some kinds that are better than others?

 

http://www.geocities.com/lunatikz808/911.html

for caliper stickers



I think Lexus uses DOT 3 brake fluid. So going DOT 4 wouldn't be a bad idea- it can take more heat b4 braking down and is just better all around. I've heard Motul 5.1 is about the best, but a lot of ppl use Motul 600. Motul just makes good stuff in general.

Tim

 

Tim, thanks for the info!

Who are you ordering your TT calipers from? I hope you don't have to wait too long for them. When we both get our brake systems upgraded we will have to get together and find some mountain roads to play on. After the break in period, or course. When you get your I-rotors, let me know how they look, or better yet, post up a pic if you can. I still need to order drilled and slotted rotors for the back, and honestly, due to a few bad comments, I've been wary of I-Rotors.

 

I would say black with white "lexus" decals would look good. Im painting my calipers this weekend I believe. My plan it (whilst changing struts) to spray them down with some rust converter (to prevent future rust through) then when thats dry enough, spray with the flat alluminum paint (heat resistant) and then when thats dry enough, apply the decals. The biggest problem I believe would be waiting for them to dry to finish the other steps.

 

I'm going towards just polished,since I had to sculpt the calipers to fit my wheels ; that stainless color looks nice IMO.
If it looks too funky, I'll just paint them black,or try a brushed/butler finish perhaps, and I will paint the rear portion that's aluminum to protect them from corrosion anyways.

 

36.8 million votes for gold! I didn't realize that CL had grown that large over the weekend. Must have nearly crashed the server! Well, in view of this sudden landslide victory of the gold calipers, I feel I have no other choice but to go with the flow. Now, for my next poll, I'm going to see what the response is on the installation of a Pep Boys aluminum adjustable wing vs. a Lexus OEM spoiler. (or maybe it's just that one of our beloved mods has a twisted sense of humor )

 

The rest of the parts came from Carson Toyota. I talked to Tony (Acleansc4) and he said he has irotors on both his cars with no probs after a 500 mile break in. So on his reco, I'm using them and we'll see. I'll take pics for ya tonight when I do them. Man I'm tired, I woke up at 3am CST in D.C., flew home, went to work, now I'm home at 6pm and still have this job to do

 

I would go with glossy black.

I am upgrading my brakes as well and I chose black calipers for the front (StopTech 14 inch rotor) and will paint the OEM rear calipers glossy black. Classy and noticeable, yet understated.