Rims · Calipers · Paint — Columbus, Ohio
We take the wheels off.
That’s the whole secret.
Caliper paint peels when it is sprayed through the spokes with brake dust still on the casting. Most of this job is what happens before the colour. The colour is the last step.
The jobs
Four ways to do this. Which one your wheel needs depends on the wheel, and we will tell you on the phone.
| Job | What it is | Plan for |
|---|---|---|
| Calipers — 4 corners | Wheels off · degreased · scuffed to clean metal · 2K caliper enamel, rated for brake heat | Drop-off job |
| Calipers — fronts only | Same process, two corners. On most wheels the fronts are what shows through the spoke. | Drop-off job |
| Rims — face only | Tires stay mounted · masked at the bead · 2K colour + clear. The barrel and the inner lip stay as they are. | Drop-off job |
| Rims — full strip | Tires dismounted · stripped to bare · liquid or powder, depending on the wheel · rebalanced before it goes back on | Tires come off |
| Colour match | Paint code off the driver's door jamb, or pick it: gloss black, satin black, caliper red, factory bronze. | Confirmed on the phone |
Powder is not liquid paint — it is baked on, so the wheel has to be bare and the tire has to be off. Ask which process your wheel is getting and why. Timing depends on the wheel and the coating, and we confirm the day when we see it.
Included, every time
This is the part you are paying for. You will never see it again once the wheel goes back on, and it is the reason the colour is still there next winter.
- 01Wheels come offAll four, on a lift, in the bay. Nothing here is painted through a spoke — that is what produces a finish that flakes.
- 02Brake dust comes offBrake dust is iron, and heat cycles bake it onto the casting. It gets degreased and scrubbed back to clean metal. Paint does not stick to dust — it sticks to what's under the dust.
- 03MaskingBleed screw, piston boot, dust seal, pad ends, the rotor face. Paint on a boot cooks and splits, and paint on a rotor face does not belong there.
- 04Thin coats, not thick onesTwo or three thin passes hold. One heavy pass runs, and a run on a caliper stays visible for as long as the wheel is on the car.
- 05It sits before it drivesThe coating has to harden before it takes 300-degree brake heat and Ohio grit. Cut that short and it comes back soft.
Two questions
“How long does painted caliper actually last?”
Done properly, years — it is a coating rated for brake heat, not a colour coat. What wears it is Ohio: salt on 270 from November to March, then the car wash. Bad prep wears it faster. Nothing survives a curb strike. Paint is not armour.
“Can I do it myself with a kit?”
You can. The kit is rarely what fails — what fails is a caliper cleaned with a rag while it was still bolted to the car. If you are doing it yourself, do the preparation properly. If you want it done once, bring it here.
Wheels off, in the bay
Wheel and caliper refinishing is carried out indoors, in the same bay as the film work.
Colour match
Bring the paint code.
It is on the sticker in the driver’s door jamb. Read it to us on the phone and the caliper can come back in the car’s own colour or in deliberate contrast to it. Four choices cover most jobs: gloss black to settle a wheel down, satin black to hide brake dust, red because red reads as brakes, or a factory bronze.
We will say so if a colour fights the wheel. A bright caliper behind a bright wheel reads as a mistake from ten feet, and it is what you look at every morning. That gets settled before the colour is mixed.
A customer’s car in our lot. Bring us a colour and we mix to it.
What it costs
Call for a number. Wheel and caliper work is priced per vehicle.
A 17-inch steel wheel and a 22-inch two-piece with a polished lip are not the same job, and a six-piston caliper with a painted bracket is not the same job as a rear drum. Tell us the car, the wheel size, and whether you want fronts or all four. That is enough for an exact figure rather than a range.
Tint has a published price. Wheel work does not yet — tint prices are here.
Bring the car in.
Indoor bay, wheels off, torqued back to specification on the way out. Ask about payment options when you confirm the job.
5220 Trabue Road, Suite D, Columbus, OH 43228
Columbus · Hilliard · Dublin · Powell · Plain City · Upper Arlington · Worthington