Anyone polished Wilwood calipers ?

[EASYGEAR]

I have a set of D8-Wilwoods lying around for my restomod, but they are in red color - what doesn`t match the body-paint that i have opted now, also i don`t want a Logo on my calipers.

Black (w/o the Logo), evtl. natural, or the polished ones would be good, i am leaning more towards the polished version.


I would like to know how the surface of the polished calipers look - as cast aluminium , unlike billet parts, after polishing sometimes isn`t as nice as you want it.

I guess they are not coated, so they will need some love to keep them shiny.

They are at the Summit-site with a tiny picture, didn`t see them anywhere else so far.

Does anyone have them on his ride ?

[Metalkid]

Originally Posted by EASYGEAR

I guess they are not coated, so they will need some love to keep them shiny.

Rustoleum High Temp Engine Enamel (500 deg) in Clear, keeps things shiny!

[EASYGEAR]

Thanks , i didn`t see this in the clear version yet.


If anyone who has the polished Wilwoods can provide a picture would be great

[jet1991]

This how the pre-polished set looks. I don`t see why your calipers can`t be polished to look as good as these. Good luck!

EDIT: Not D8s, but 4-piston calipers for a C3.

[EASYGEAR]

* Hi Jet *
Thanks, i have seen those Wilwood advertising pictures, just as they say "article may vary", i was curious how they look in flesh.
I wanted to know because i would like to be sure that they don`t have a raised or a stamped Logo on it.

I had thoughts about polishing my existing red calipers, but maybe it is not as easy to get all of the coating off from every little angle of them.
Disassembling them would not be the best idea imo.
I find it easier to sell them and get polished ones.

How`s your winter over there ?

[jet1991]

Originally Posted by EASYGEAR

* Hi Jet *
Thanks, i have seen those Wilwood advertising pictures, just as they say "article may vary", i was curious how they look in flesh.
I wanted to know because i would like to be sure that they don`t have a raised or a stamped Logo on it.

I had thoughts about polishing my existing red calipers, but maybe it is not as easy to get all of the coating off from every little angle of them.
Disassembling them would not be the best idea imo.
I find it easier to sell them and get polished ones.

How`s your winter over there ?

It`s very, very, very cold. Brrrr.

Could a paint remover safely remove the paint? Will a paint remover dissolve powdercoat? That might be another option.

And you`re probably right about it being a chore to remove the paint from the whole caliper. If you sell those you have, you could probably regain most of what you paid for them. So I can see why you prefer to just swap them for a set of pre-polished ones. It will probably save you 50 hours + of polishing and buffing .

[Todd TCE]

To remove the powder coat you'd have to gut the caliper bodies and have them chemically stripped. That will leave a very dull and ugly finish on them. Trust me; you don't want to go this route.

The polished Wilwoods are as bright and shiny as they appear in the images you see. They are not to my knowledge clear coated afterwards however and would take a bit of general maintenance to keep the fully bright.

Not 100% certain on the current logos....while seldom seen in the images on line most of them the past few years had the outlined laser logo etched in them post polish. I'd suspect this is the case today or possibly the newer silk screened full letter logos. Today: "nothing leaves without or name on it" is the policy.

Before you really think about trying to deal with the red issue think about selling them to someone and starting over. Even at a small loss you're going to be dollars ahead of the disaster you'll have trying to deal with it on your own. Be happy to quote you pricing on the polished ones if you like.


EXAMPLE:

[7t9l82]

aircraft stripper removes powdercoat.

[EASYGEAR]

7t , thanks for the idea, but i decided to not disassemble the calipers.
I have seen quite a few guys with problems after disassembling their calipers ( from bikes), to have them chromed or painted.

Todd, that was what i meant - just to much effort to remove the finish and have them polished.
You do not happen to have a source for polished ones ?
Summit still lists them, but when i asked there they told me it is dead listing and they don`t have them since they are discontinued.

Obviously your example link didn`t work - what was it about ?

[drbluevert]

Of all the paint stripers I've used this stuff removes the thickest of powder coatings really easy. I use a wire brush, it's faster.
http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-s-p...strippers.html

[Todd TCE]

This was the image with the logo.

[Todd TCE]

Polished calipers are still listed as a good Wilwood item.