Powder Coating Calipers... Seals or no Seals
 

OK..

I did some searching but couldn't find anything that really answers the question.

So I need some people smarter than me to bail me out of a little pickle I got myself into.

I've ordered the CTSV/ZL1 front calipers from Maureen @ Rodgers.

Went to drop them off at the powder coaters this morning with my stock SS rears to get them powder coated red.

The guy there said he HAD to remove the seals and pistons or he wouldn't powder coat them... He was afraid that baking them at 400 degrees would damage the seals...

On the SS calipers, No biggie the replacement kit is something like $40 for the piston/seal kit and 40 for the dust covers for both calipers

On the CTSV calipers... try $ $520 for the piston/seals and $83 for the dust cover.


Having said that... My question is.

Is it safe to powder coat calipers with the seals in them?

I'm thinking the CTSV/ZL1 caliper components are going to be pretty heat resistant to begin with. So, I'm leaning towards finding a place that will do it with the seals in...

Another argument for leaving the seals in is to avoid contaminating the brakes with solvent or the sand blasting media...

I'm looking for some opinions.

:respekt:

Simple.

Krylon.

Duh.................

I hate you.


:laugh:

400 degrees.

How hot do they get on a hot track day?

No idea... I was hoping Pete could enlighten us on that front. Or anyone who is a track hound, like Dan.

I"ve read in a few places on-line where temps had exceeded 500 degrees and that 490 degrees wasn't that bad.

Not sure what calipers they were talking about but I'm betting 400 should be fine?

Maybe if you can prove the guy that then he'll reconsider.

That's what I was thinking...

They don't seem so concerned in this thread here...... http://forums.evolutionm.net/8403894-post6.html

Yes, it's a Mitsubitchy forum but still the temps of the calipers were pretty hot.

Its likely a non-issue if you leave them in but it adds liability on the part of the coater and some are unwilling to accept it. If a seal leaks a day, a year, etc down the line there's plenty of retards who will sue the coater for making their vehicle unsafe whether its their fault or not.

With brand new calipers you could very easily disassemble everything and reuse the seals if you're careful and don't damage any of them in the removal process.

I would ask mike the power coater guy here on C5.

I don't think it's a big deal.

Or disassemble them like poster above mentions.

I was thinking the same thing... What do you think about contaminating the internals of the caliper? any risk of that?

I'm pretty sure he does them with the seals in... Almost positive. I sent him a PM and left him a voicemail.

Why don't you ask Mike the Powdercoater? He does them all the time.

Here is his web site and he has an 800 number listed there: http://www.thepowdercoater.com

Mike did mine - a while back. I didn't have to re-seal....still stopping 15,000 miles later, which is nice.

he removes the seals, he blasts them before coating.

he did seem to think it would be ok.

i baked mine at 200 deg with the seals in to cure the VHT paint, no issues at all.

from eastwood; "I do strongly reccomend complete dissasembly of the calipers before powder coating since in normal street use, calipers will never approach anything near the 400F cure temperature that powdercoating requires. With the 400F heat soak that the calipers will recieve during the cure period, some seal damage likely will occur.
Blasting should not be requred on new (not rebuilt) calipers. A thorough cleaning with Eastwood Pre http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?i...emType=PRODUCT or acetone is required to remove any traces of brake fluid or other contaminates from the surface of the castings. You can use High Temp Masking Tape http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?i...emType=PRODUCT combined with aluminum foil to mask machined and internal areas."