Rebuilding and painting my caliper and MC...

Hey fellas,
just want to get a feeler out there. I have ordered all of the components to overhaul my front brake. I figure since it is coming off I might as well give it some fresh paint!

I can't decide if I want to strip both units to bare metal or just rough them up and spray over them?

Also, I've got blue brake line, fuel line and vacuum line coming on order. What do you guys think about shooting the caliper blue and maybe detailing the "YAMAHA" on the MC cover blue to tie it in a bit? The rest of the MC will just get a new coat of black and the valve cover too. Maybe even do the "YAMAHA" on the cover blue too?

The blue rattle can is actually caliper paint rated to 900 degrees so I'm not worried about high temps. I'd just like some thoughts on the scheme and maybe some pointers...

 

I did red lines, red bike, red calipers.

Polished the MC cover, kept the MC black. Also polished the Yamaha on the valve cover.

I think blue would look fine in keeping with the theme.

Tips:
Use toothpicks as brushes to paint the MC cover letters.
A magnifying glass helps.

I think the MC is on page two or three of my build thread.

 

A picture is worth a thousand words:



-The rotor hub was painted using Duplicolor gloss black "Brake Caliper paint."

-The caliper was also repainted with the same paint.

(-the rear brake backing plate and lever were powder-coated, they don't count.)

-At FAR left, you can just see the very corner of the brake line ferrule on that end, which I sprayed flat black with Duplicolor engine enamel.

I lightly wet-sanded the caliper after thoroughly cleaning it with lacquer thinner and a stiff brush; a lot of the old paint remained and I just sprayed over it. It came out great.

It's all holding up very well after 8000+ miles and 3+ years.

 

I also considered doing something like this...

 

One more thing. I can't decide which caliper I wish to rebuild. The parts bike I recently acquired only has 14k miles on it. My rider has nearly 22k.

Needless to say, the parts caliper is in better condition. I figure I should rebuild the one with more miles and wear but the other is already off and can be done and mounted with no down time.

Oh what am I saying, clearly I should rebuild the one with more wear. Ha, thanks for the help!

 

Rebuild the one with the most wear?

I would put the best brakes possible on the bike, not in the cupboard.

 

They are old enough that it doesn't matter. If the piston is ok, then just rebuild the one you already have off.

 

Dark, putting the best brakes on the bike is certainly what I hope to achieve. I figure "post rebuild" they would be at the same level.

Additionally, if I rebuild the caliper in worse condition and put it in to use I'll have a better "back up".

 

Often it is much cheaper in parts to do up the best units. You wont need a spare if you rebuild it correctly, and regularly maintain it.

 

Alright then, you guys make some good points. Perhaps I was over thinking it. I just didn't want to take the easy route and have it bight me later on...

I'll inspect the spare and go that route if all is well. Thanks

 

Here is the first idea reversed. I only did the two tone blue so I didn't lose all the detail in the pic...



Sorry, I bore easily...