Painted Calipers (Black) With Decals

[ahmed24]

Just finished painting my calipers. here are some pics

[Faz-Faz]

Looks good.. Looks orginal..

Maybe I should try this :P

[new boy]

ahmed where did you get the lettering looks brill

[Asi]

looks very nice mate

[ahmed24]

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone.

ahmed where did you get the lettering looks brill

I purchased the decals from a US eBay seller for $8. Cant remember the eBay ID of the seller but you can also purchase the exact same decal on the following website: http://www.motogfx.com/lexus/

I bought my decals about 8 months ago and never got round to actually doing the mod until this week. I also had a high temp engine paint laying around in storage for 1 year.

I didnt want to spend much money on this mod and just wanted to use the stuff I had laying around. The only additional thing i bought was 2 spray cans of brake cleaner for around £3.

As I wanted to keep this mod cheap and cheerful, I didnt spend money buying a jack stand and instead did the following:

• Jacked up one side at a time
  
• Cleaned the caliper thoroughly with half a can of brake cleaner and steel brush
  
• Spent about 1 hour cleaning thoroughly, rinsing and cleaning again until all the rusty look disappeared and went back to greyish/silverish colour
  
• Once I was happy with the cleaning, i rinsed with water and dried with microfibre cloth and let it also naturally dry for about 30minutes
  
• I wiped down the caliper area that i would be painting with Paint Preparation wipes.
  
• Using professional art & craft paint brushes, I brushed on a thin layer of High Temperature Engine Enamel Paint onto the caliper.
  
• Once the caliper was covered with the first thin layer of the paint, I put back my wheel and briefly tightened the lug nuts
  
• Then I moved onto the next caliper and repeated same process on remaining 3 calipers.
  
• By the time I finished on the last caliper, the other calipers were ready to take 2nd layer of paint. I repeated the exact same process and put the 2nd layer on and then exact same process and put 3rd layer.
  
• Finished all that in one day and I let the paint set for 24hrs.
  
• After 24hrs I applied the decals and let it set for a further 24hrs
  
• To be on the safe side i waited a further 24hrs before driving
  
• I had a weekend break and did about 900miles of driving in wet highway conditions and the decals are still in excellent condition
  

[tinka]

Looks realy good. I did my BMW with smootherite, with no problems, i wasn't going to bother with the IS, but after seeing this, i might just do it, in silver though.

[steveboiboi]

looks dope mate :) looks factory.... much prefer this to the lairy colours.... i can hardly talk i use to have green and yellow on my last car !

[Ozzy A]

That looks amazing, was gonna do mine in Red with the logo's, but the Black looks really good, might go with the Black too!! :winky:

[maz786]

looks good, did you put a layer of laquer after the sticker?

[ahmed24]

looks good, did you put a layer of laquer after the sticker?

I did purchase a high temp clear coat but didnt put it on. I didnt have time to wait a further 24hrs. I went away for the weekend and have driven over 1300 miles since i painted the calipers and installed the decals. I drove through heavy wet conditions on the motorway and it hasnt yet had any effect on my decals.

However, if the weather is good this weekend, I might clean it and give it a layer or 2 of clear coat.

[Parthiban]

Nice job mate, not sure I'm too keen on the size of the lettering but well executed as always :)

[ahmed24]

Nice job mate, not sure I'm too keen on the size of the lettering but well executed as always :)

Thanks :) I guess the lettering is a matter of preference.

[lexus0000]

Hi ahmed how did you apply the decals. Are they stickers?

[ahmed24]

Hi ahmed how did you apply the decals. Are they stickers?

It's very straight forward. They are known as vinyl transfers just like the vinyl transfers you get for advert signs and stuff. but these are designed for high temp.

You just simply peel back the backing paper making sure that the logo and lettering are not left stuck on there. Then you simply stick it on and with a credit card apply it and then peel off the top layer. That way the logo and lettering get transferred.

You can watch the following

[thorien]

Nice job, I'm inspired to do mine now. :winky:

My car is Cadoxton Slate, but am thinking to go black on the calipers also, following your method. Maybe chrome on the decals.

My wheels are the Baransu type, It's got to look better than they do now, as they are getting quite rusty.

How far did you paint around the calipers?

Also did you stick any decals on the back calipers?

Am thinking of maybe doing the hubs too, again in black....

[ahmed24]

Nice job, I'm inspired to do mine now. :winky:

My car is Cadoxton Slate, but am thinking to go black on the calipers also, following your method. Maybe chrome on the decals.

My wheels are the Baransu type, It's got to look better than they do now, as they are getting quite rusty.

How far did you paint around the calipers?

Also did you stick any decals on the back calipers?

Am thinking of maybe doing the hubs too, again in black....

I painted around most of the visible area of the caliper using 3 different size professional arts & craft brushes.

The IS250 calipers do not allow for rear decals. they are simply way too narrow.

[Tango]

The IS250 calipers do not allow for rear decals. they are simply way too narrow.

I always thought the front ones were to be honest, but you appear to have been successful.

No problem with mine when I fitted the IS350 discs and calipers to my IS250 SE-L.

[thorien]

Those are very nice Tango! B)

Let me know if they are for sale! Will save me a hell of a lot of time ! ;)

[ahmed24]

I always thought the front ones were to be honest, but you appear to have been successful.

From what i've seen and from family members and friends that also have the IS, the front caliper is the bigger one like this:

The rear caliper is the smaller one. However, it is possible to get a very small decal on it like the following person has done:

[Matus]

red looks bad...black is OK.

[lexus0000]

Hi Ahmed did you take the caliper off when painting or did you just cover up the brake disc?

[ahmed24]

Hi Ahmed did you take the caliper off when painting or did you just cover up the brake disc?

Nope.. There is absolutely no need to take it off and create extra work for yourself. If you want to be careful and are worried about getting paint where it shouldnt go, then just mask it up. I just made sure i used very good arts & craft brushes (different sizes for the edges).

I didnt mask it up or anything. Remember not to apply or have too much on the brush otherwise it may drip