Here is the process I went through to repaint my JDM 4-pot calipers with the raised letters.
They started out like this;
![]()
1) Scrub all the dirt and grease/fluid off.
2) Paint the whole caliper with VHT black caliper paint. Use a couple coats and let the last one dry overnight.
![]()
3) For the letters, I used white automotive touch up paint with the little brush in the bottle. This took a steady hand (actually both steady hands). I tried various techniques and had to sand off the white and start over with step two a couple of times. What worked best for me was to use masking tape for the straight lines above and below the letters. For the letters themselves I had to free hand it and yeah it was a challenge. There will be bleed over the edges and it will drive you crazy. I found a nifty way to deal with that by using thin wood popsicle sticks. In the areas where the white had gone over the edge, I would spray some of the VHT paint on a piece of scrap and dip an edge of the stick in it. Then I would use the edge of the stick to sort of "cut" along the edges. Hopefully that makes sense as it is hard to describe.
It took maybe 3 coats of the white to get complete coverage. I waited at least 30 min between coats.
4) After I was happy with the letters I sprayed VHT high temp gloss over everything and put in the shop oven for a full cure. VHT says 200 (IIRC) for an hour. If you don't have an oven then VHT says they cure with usuage, but are not chemically resistant until then. The only slight disappointment was that the clear did give a slight yellow to the white.
Finished product looked like this. Note, I did redo this one as I wasn't happy with the white on the bottom edge. And yes I did get overly obsessive about these :)
![]()
-Rob
They started out like this;
1) Scrub all the dirt and grease/fluid off.
2) Paint the whole caliper with VHT black caliper paint. Use a couple coats and let the last one dry overnight.
3) For the letters, I used white automotive touch up paint with the little brush in the bottle. This took a steady hand (actually both steady hands). I tried various techniques and had to sand off the white and start over with step two a couple of times. What worked best for me was to use masking tape for the straight lines above and below the letters. For the letters themselves I had to free hand it and yeah it was a challenge. There will be bleed over the edges and it will drive you crazy. I found a nifty way to deal with that by using thin wood popsicle sticks. In the areas where the white had gone over the edge, I would spray some of the VHT paint on a piece of scrap and dip an edge of the stick in it. Then I would use the edge of the stick to sort of "cut" along the edges. Hopefully that makes sense as it is hard to describe.
It took maybe 3 coats of the white to get complete coverage. I waited at least 30 min between coats.
4) After I was happy with the letters I sprayed VHT high temp gloss over everything and put in the shop oven for a full cure. VHT says 200 (IIRC) for an hour. If you don't have an oven then VHT says they cure with usuage, but are not chemically resistant until then. The only slight disappointment was that the clear did give a slight yellow to the white.
Finished product looked like this. Note, I did redo this one as I wasn't happy with the white on the bottom edge. And yes I did get overly obsessive about these :)
-Rob