VXOC Astra-J/GTC

First off I'd suggest reading Tucpal's and Rusty's write ups:
http://www.vxoc.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?tid=1350

http://www.vxoc.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?tid=14

What I used:
2 x cans of brake caliper spray paint (from the ever so cheap Halfords)
1 x can of brake caliper cleaner (dependent upon how dirty your calipers are)
Sand paper - rough, medium and soft (a steal from Asda at £1!)
I actually used a mains powered drill with a wire brush attachment but a wire brush will work just as well.
Brake caliper wipes to clean up after the wire brushing.

To start with, crack the nuts of the wheels on one side of the car then jack up that side of the car and support with axle stands.

Once it is on the axle stands remove the wheels completely and set aside - I actually got my youngest brother to give them a good scrubbing whilst I tackled the brake calipers. I used a wheel cleaner called Merlins Blood and I can swear by it that it's brilliant.





Turn the steering wheel so that the caliper is more exposed and is easier to access. As you'll see in the above links, there is a 10mm bolt to undo on the front caliper at the bottom undo this and the caliper will lift up and rest on top of the disc. From here you can remove the brake pads and set aside to prevent contamination.
Watch the following video as posted by Tucpal to help - to push the piston back in I followed Rusty's advise of a G-clamp and a couple of pieces of wood.

http://youtu.be/byUQqMEPaTk

As for the rear caliper, I found that it was easier to just cover everything up rather than take the caliper apart (I have the electric handbrake) but if you read Rusty's tut you'll see how to take it apart if you wish - partly laziness on my behalf.

One you have the above done, you need to start to mask areas off that aren't to be painted. I had a couple of plastic sheets lying around to cover the car as it was windy outside and I didn't want spray on my lovely white paint.
I found that black bags and electrical tape/masking tape worked fine. I used the electrical tape to tape up the rubber sleeves on the caliper.



Use newspaper to cover up the bigger parts and use long nosed pliers to push it into every nook and cranny.

Once everything is masked off, use the brake caliper cleaner and spray generously all over the caliper.



After you've sprayed it, use the wire brush or (in my case I used the drill with the brush attachment) and start to brush away any dust and dirt.





Once you're happy with the cleaning process, use the sandpaper starting with the rough working toward soft and sand down all the little bits you couldn't reach with the wire brush and then use the wipes to wipe away any excess dirt (I would advise squirts of the brake caliper cleaner to help).

So finally the prep is out of the way! And you can finally kerb your inner child and start spraying!
Use nice, even bursts of spray instead of spraying all over. That way you avoid over spray and running paint.


Start with one coat and get as much coverage as you can.



The above picture is after one coat, allow at least 10-15 minutes after each coat for it to dry. And then keep applying coats until you're happy with the outcome but make sure you allow 10-15 minutes between each coat!

I found that 5 coats got me the coverage that I needed.




Rear:


Once the paint is dry, start to remove the masking you've put on. Put the brakes pads back in, fasten the 10mm bolt back on and then fasten the wheels back on.

Repeat the process for the other side of the car.

Allow to sit for at least an hour before you drive the car, ideally the calipers will need 24 hours to fully dry and when it's being driven, the heat produced will cure the paint.



BEFORE YOU DRIVE THE CAR MAKE SURE THAT YOU PUMP THE BRAKE PEDAL TO SET THE BRAKES AND THE PISTON!!!

After all of this you should have some lovely looking brake calipers!


(Ignore the curb mark on the alloy!)












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Looks really good mate, not something I'll be attempting by myself though! I've seen people paint straight on top with out removing anything except the wheel. I have a white J and want to do mine green!


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Very good write up mate. Callipers looking good too.


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I'm contemplating doing mine yellow. Good write up

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Cheers guys, Tonto you've got a white j too don't you? I thought about green, but went with red (I know it's common) as i think it goes with white more


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Yeah it does look good but green is favourite colour and I've seen a J with green and think it looks great!


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don't get me wrong, electric green is an awesome colour on cars, there's a green and black vw sirocco near me and it looks amazing. It'll be a good colour


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Yeah I seen a black astra j with green callipers and some green stickers and it looked awesome!


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Get some pics when you've done it, be good to see what a white Astra with green calipers will look like.

And just in regards to your first comment, I've never ever had any experience in anything like this, I've never really spray painted anything so if I can do this, so can you haha. I was getting quotes of around £100+ so for a fraction of the price, I did it myself


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Top how to there grate wright up thanks top man [SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES] I need to do the insignia calipers but may just go black this time with white Vauxhall logos[SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

It's a great write up but o don't have any tools to tighten things back up to a certain nm.. I may try just masking off and using a brush to paint onto callipers!! Will see..


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I just tightened it back up as normal, I didn't use the nm torque wrench or anything (may be a bad thing)

@tucpal do you have insignia calipers on a 5 door j?


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No I just swapped cars [SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

Since when? Thought you had a J


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This weekend the j has now gone

@Tucpal go orange it suits a black car.

Think I would rather have black this time but weeks away from doing that

Tonto's idea of green would go well with a black car too


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Has anyone fitted the vauxhall caliper stickers from ebay. Are they any good

There very good my ones lasted very well on my old j

I've got a set that I've not applied yet. Will wait till I've changed the colour. Only thing I found with the calliper change was that there was a lot of brake dust. You could see it more when it was red. Are there any brakes which are better and give less brake dust off

Yep I've got a set very good.


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I've got some yellow pads to fit the VX pads do seem bad for dust tho mate


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(22:nd-Jan-2016, 22:03:08)Rusty2009 Wrote: [ -> ]I've got some yellow pads to fit the VX pads do seem bad for dust tho mate


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So no matter what we do we're plagued with dust? :(

same on the insignia i went for padraig pads there a bit better
but brake dust is brake dust it will always be there for sure

Aye I know it'll always be there, I'd rather have less of it haha. With all those spokes on my wheels it's near impossible to get to the calliper without removing the wheel to clean it

same on my elite alloys very hard to get in between the spokes to clean
but my old 19 inch astra j alloys were just as bad but they were just easier to clean
but they looked dirty quicker

(26:th-Oct-2015, 03:21:03)bhalay207 Wrote: [ -> ]I'm contemplating doing mine yellow. Good write up

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God, just noticed I posted on this back in February.... I need to pull my finger out I think!!!

Good write up mate.

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I’ve got an grey Vauxhall Astra , not too sure about the colour alloys I should have and get... I’m thinking of getting the vxr ones but I’m not sure what colour alloys and callipers for a grey Astra . Could some one help .