Brake caliper powder coating
Brembo, Akebono, AMG, OEM. We pull them apart, strip to bare metal, coat in any of our in-stock colors and rebuild with new seals. Most sets run $600–800 coated and rebuilt; fully disassembled calipers from $100 each for coating only. Drop off loose calipers, bring the car, or mail them in from anywhere. Looking for caliper painting? Powder coating is the tougher version of the same idea.
Options
Choose a service
Set of calipers, coated and rebuilt
Starting at
$600per set. Most sets $600–800, up to $1,000 for more pistons, parts or a complex color.
- Full disassembly, pistons and seals out
- Chemical strip, preheat, sandblast
- Powder coat, clear where the color needs it
- Rebuilt with new seals
- Vinyl stickers after coating, or left bare
- About 2 weeks in the shop
Disassembled, coating only
Starting at
$100each. You take them apart, we coat them.
- Pistons, seals, brackets and hardware off before they arrive
- Chemical strip, preheat, sandblast
- Powder coat, clear where needed
- Vinyl stickers after coating, or left bare
- Returned loose for you to rebuild
Rush: 5 business days
Starting at
$100added to any set
- Same work, front of the line
- 5 business days in the shop
- Expedited return shipping quoted for mail-in
Full service, vehicle drop-off
Starting at
$1,200per vehicle
- Vehicle storage in our locked lot
- Remove and replace calipers
- Everything in a coated-and-rebuilt set
- Bleed the brake system
- Usually back in 2–3 days
Process
How we do brake calipers
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Disassemble
Every caliper is fully disassembled. Pistons and seals come out so nothing is coated over. Take them apart yourself and the price starts at $100 each.
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Strip and blast
Chemical strip to bare metal, preheat to burn off contamination, then sandblast. Piston bores are protected at every step.
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Coat and cure
Base coat and top coat, oven cured. Logos go on as vinyl stickers after coating; we don’t paint or stencil them.
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Rebuild
Calipers are reassembled with new OEM-spec seals, or returned loose if you sent them apart. About 2 weeks in the shop, 5 business days on a rush.
Finishes
Popular brake calipers finishes
Illusion Cherry
Illusion Red
Illusion Violet
Lollipop Red
Wet Black
How the quote works
The set price gets you in the ballpark. The itemized quote comes after we see your photos and depends on the number of pistons, any parts that need replacing, the process the color needs, and how fast you need it back. Cracked or seized calipers are quoted separately. Rebuild kits are OEM-spec.
Logos and lettering
On 95% of our projects the logo is a vinyl sticker applied after coating; it looks right and it lasts. We don’t paint or stencil logos: too slow, too easy to get a defect. Raised or recessed lettering can sometimes be two-toned. Tell us what you want when you request the quote.
Seized bolts, frozen bleeders, stripped threads
We have a bleeder buster, an induction heater and a lot of practice with seized hardware. That work is billed at $125 an hour on top of the coating. Stripped threads are a different matter: repairs are hit or miss, so we don’t take responsibility for them, and the honest answer is usually to replace the core caliper.
High heat: Cerakote
For track use or anything that sees real heat, we use Cerakote, good to about 500°F. It starts closer to $150 per caliper. Bleeders, crossover tubes and mounting bolts can be Cerakoted to match in black or silver, typically $100 per set.
Many customers do calipers and wheels together, matched or in contrasting colors; ask for both in one quote.
Not local? See mail-in brake caliper service.
Gallery
Recent brake calipers
FAQ
Caliper questions
Can powder coated calipers handle the heat?
For street use, yes. Powder coating is our preferred finish for brake calipers: on the street they rarely get over 250°F, which is where a powder finish can start to degrade and fade. We’ve had good feedback from customers on light track days too, though a lot depends on the setup, how fast the brakes cool down and whether you run cool-down laps.
If you plan to track the car, Cerakote is typically rated to about 500°F and resists overheating better. It comes in far fewer colors than powder coat and costs more, so unless the brakes are being abused, powder coat is usually the better option.
Can you paint the logo or lettering on my calipers?
It depends on what you mean. We don’t paint logos: on about 95% of our projects the logo is a vinyl sticker applied after coating, which looks right and lasts. Raised or recessed lettering can sometimes be two-toned instead. Say what you’re after when you request a quote and we’ll tell you which one fits your calipers.
Can you match my car’s factory paint color?
We can get close, and we’ll say so honestly. Through Prismatic Powders’ color match service we can bring in a powder matched to a factory paint code (Corvette C8 colors are a common request; we’ve done Aztec Gold, among others). We don’t advertise an exact match because “close enough” is your call, so we make a recommendation and let you compare samples before we spray. A custom-made color is also possible: it starts around $1,000 for a 44 lb box with a lead time of five weeks or more.