Redlined Car Club

Powder Coated Brake Calipers: 5 Reasons to Do It, and How It's Done

3 min read

Cover slide reading "5 Reasons To Powder Coat Your Calipers: Stop Rust, Start Turning Heads!"

Want to know the secret to making your ride truly unforgettable? It's all in the details. Freshly coated calipers behind a set of open-spoke wheels are one of the cheapest ways to make a build look finished, and done properly they protect the part as well as dress it up. Here's the case for doing it, the way the club put it on Instagram, and exactly how our sponsor FAPAUTO does the job.

What powder coating actually is

Powder coating is a finish applied as a free-flowing, dry powder rather than a liquid paint. The powder is sprayed on electrostatically, so it clings to the part, and then cured with heat. A common cure is around 200 °C (392 °F) of part temperature for about ten minutes, with newer powders curing nearer 160 °C (320 °F). The result is a finish that is generally more durable than conventional paint. Because there's no solvent, powder can be built up thicker without running or sagging, and it releases little or no volatile organic compounds.

That's why caliper coating is a strip-down job rather than a quick spray: the metal has to be bare and clean for the powder to bond, and the part has to go in an oven.

  • Four wheels with powder-coated calipers in black and red, yellow and red behind different wheel designs
    Aesthetics
  • Powder-coated calipers in green, orange, red and white
    Durability
  • Yellow and red powder-coated calipers
    Performance
  • Lime green, gold, red and purple powder-coated calipers
    Cost savings
  • Red, blue, yellow and purple calipers after coating
    Maintenance
  • A caliper being pressure-washed before coating
    Craftsmanship: the bonus slide

5 reasons to powder coat your calipers

1. Aesthetics

Make your ride stand out! Powder coating offers vibrant colors and a variety of finishes, enhancing your car's overall style and reflecting your unique personality.

2. Durability

Say goodbye to chipping and fading! Powder coating provides a tough, protective layer against road salt, extreme temperatures, and brake fluid if sealed and coated with high performance epoxy. On a car that sees New Jersey winters, road salt is the enemy of everything under the wheel wells.

3. Performance

Enhance your car's performance and safety! Powder coating your upgraded calipers adds style to serious stopping power. Look good while having the performance to match. If you're already fitting a big brake kit, coating the new calipers is the natural time to pick the color.

4. Cost savings

Invest in a lasting finish! Powder coating's durability means fewer touch-ups and replacements, saving you money down the road. It also allows you to preserve your classic car's original calipers with a durable finish.

5. Maintenance

Powder coating is the perfect time for essential maintenance. The calipers are already off the car and apart, so bleed your brakes, replace worn seals, and even upgrade to a big brake kit with custom brackets for enhanced performance.

How FAPAUTO does it

At FAPAUTO's powder coating shop (@fapowdercoating), calipers get expert care from start to finish:

  1. Remove the calipers from the car.
  2. Disassemble each caliper.
  3. Acid strip and wash the old finish off.
  4. Blast the metal clean.
  5. Outgas, so trapped contaminants don't bubble through the finish later.
  6. Coat with top brands like Prismatic Powders.
  7. Bake to cure the coat.
  8. Rebuild with new seals, reinstall, and bleed the system.

FAPAUTO is the official sponsor of the Redlined Car Club and does performance parts, fender rolling and powder coating out of northern New Jersey.

More from the garage

Picking out a suspension to go with those calipers? Read the club's take on coilovers for every budget, from BC Racing to Öhlins.

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@redlined.cc · Mar 16, 2025

Sources

  • "Powder coating", Wikipedia: application, curing temperatures and properties.