I bought a '15 Type R a few weeks ago. I'm really enjoying the car but there were a couple of things I wanted to touch up. ECO stop/stop, disconnected. The front calipers have the usual high finish powder coated red. The back calipers we're flat red at best on a rough cast finish. I decided I'd paint them. Pulled the wheels, while I'm in there clean up the under carriage as this is mostly a fair weather car. Removed the calipers and pads. Did the prep and painted once with a brush. Let dry 24hrs and then with a sponge. Not close to as good as a powder coat but much better than the way they were. The cure time on the paint is a solid 24hrs and as always prep is what matters.

While I had the wheels off I decided to have them redone with the machine finish front and dark grey metallic finish. Like the newer stock ones. They did the barrels as well. Really nice job. Super careful shop. With the powder coat, clear coat, tire strip, remount and balance it was $699 with tax. Worth it IMO for the amount of work it takes to do it.

So this was one of those things that started with me not liking the calipers and while it was going to take time for paint to cure I ended up doing three more things. Fun to do though and a very easy car to work on.

 

Cmon, red car with black pak needs black exhaust tips, and dark wheels to keep the look consistent....

My mission: End the chrome/shinny metal on F types!

 

Now you've done it! First its one thing then the next, then the next! :-)
Its like potato chips....you can't stop at 1.

 

I'm the prototypical "while I'm in there" guy. I also cleaned up the muffler with Flitz. This car is pretty close though. I'm still not thrilled with the Meridian but I think I'll try the TSB.

I really thought about black wheels. I was going to do black with a red powder coated stripe at the edge. In the end I liked the stock look. My last Pcar had black wheels and maybe I'm just tired of them. I'm super happy with the way the wheels came out although I snapped a stud that is discussed on another thread.

Maybe I'll put a set of less dusty pads on too....

It just never stops.

The car is driving great. The rims were fine before but taken to zero runout so they could be machined. Even the fat rears only took 10-15g's to balance and they're spot on.

 

I have IRR and when I first got the car, the caliper red was a little brighter than I would have liked. Pondered getting matching caliper paint (you can have it custom mixed).

I let them get dirty with brake dust and the problem is solved.

.

 

Personal taste, and I get it if you are sick of black, but I really do prefer Gyrodynes powercoated Black IF the car has two things: Black Pack & 15mm-17mm spacers.

If chrome trim, I prefer the OEM coloring. Salsa car here; really shows difference in color based on lighting. First pic in dim garage.

 

IRR?

 

Do you have to change the studs if you use spacers?

 

Even looking at yours side by side I still like what I did. Again, maybe I'm just taking a break from black wheels.

 

No.
But with most OEM wheels if the spacers are 15 mm or less wide you will need to cut or grind 2 or 3 mm off the ends of the studs, otherwise the original studs poke out too far through the spacers and foul the backs of the wheels, that is the holes/depressions in the backs of the wheels between each bolt hole aren't quite deep enough.
One wheel design where this is not a problem is the "Blade" 20" wheel, I have 15 mm spacers all round with Blade wheels and no hassles at all.
The other solution is to fit 17 mm (or wider) spacers.

 

I"m not following. The spacers cause the studs to have less reach.
I'm missing something and I've used spacers before.

 

I like it a lot!

 

Yes, the original studs have less reach, but I'm talking about hub-centric spacers (AKA adapters to some people, although adapters really means changing the PCD). You do not want to fit "plain" or non hub-centric spacers, they would be bad news.
The hub-centric spacers/adapters fit over and are bolted to the existing studs, then they have five new studs of their own that you now bolt the rims to.
But the existing studs still poke through the spacers a bit.
These are the spacers I have used, the pics speak a thousand words: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Alum...2-c19820e34402

 

Got it. Thank you.

 

Italian Racing Red

 

I agree that the OP's car looks fantastic as is - black or not is just personal taste. The rejuvenated calipers look great also. I am still running the stock brake pads so dealing with tons of brake dust of course. Bought the Porterfield pads, but just waiting for more reasons to start a work project.

As for the off-topic Spacers:

With 17mm Motortech spacers (silver or annodized black) just grind each OEM stud from the inverted-in dome with the M stamp on the end until the M is gone and the stud is squared/flat/shiny. Makes for an easy, consistent measurement all round and there are no ill effects - threads don't begin all way past this point.

That is approx 2.75mm and allows the 20" Gyrodynes the clearance they need.

I used a Dewalt 18v cordless grinder and it was never clean and easy. Takes about 5min per corner. Wear eye and ear protection and it is a simple project for anyone.

There are comments here on the forum that with 20" Gyrodynes and 17mm Motortech spacers that you do not need to grind the studs. That is untrue.

The OEM studs will impact the wheels and cause two soon-obvious issues. Drives 'out of balance' and a whoosing sound at low speed.

Remove wheel and you will see where the contact is being made. It also makes mounting the wheel 100% flat and 90 degrees to the axle almost impossible, hence the wobbling sensation when driving.

When installed correctly, the spacers are 100% safe and issue free and really make a big visual difference/impact.