Removing the rust from the brake rotors?

[n00bcar]

I am learning about cars so please be gentle with my newbie questions.

I have a ford fiesta 63 plate. From what I understand is the front two wheels have brake calipers and the back two dont. From a bunch of googling, the back two are called brake rotors. Mines a bit rusty and was wondering is there a way to make them look good again? or is it best to get new ones fitted? If so would it be a good newbie project for me?

[Pothole]

Google the difference between disc and drum brakes. Yanks call discs rotors.

[n00bcar]

Pothole said:

Google the difference between disc and drum brakes. Yanks call discs rotors.

Yes. I was going to edit the post and then right drum brakes.

I know the difference now. From what I learnt so far rust is normal on drum brakes?

[Pothole]

n00bcar said:

Pothole said:

Google the difference between disc and drum brakes. Yanks call discs rotors.

Yes. I was going to edit the post and then right drum brakes.

I know the difference now. From what I learnt so far rust is normal on drum brakes?

Rust is normal on brake drums, yes. They're cast iron. It's only on the surface.

[fwaggie]

If you want to you can take the drums off (a good way to learn how to service your own drum brakes), then use a wire brush to remove the rust and paint them with Hammerite. You could clean the rust off and paint them without taking them off but where's the fun in that?

Do not paint the part that the wheel clamps too - that needs to be bare. Just paint the outer circumference.

Also good idea to clean the inside of the wheels while they're off so it all looks good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjBz-YEhK8A

P.S. Any automotive job is a great excuse to go and buy tools that you need. Impact driver, impact socket, hex and star driver set, ball pein hammer, penetrating oil, decent car jack and axle stands, protective gloves, protective overall, mechanics seat, degreaser and cleaner for the inside of the drum and mechanics, brake cleaner for the brake shoe surfaces.

Ok, maybe the seat and overall is a bit much

[A1VDY]

On all our sales cars, once the brakes are checked/replaced we paint the rear drums (if it has drums) black and both the outer edge and inner edges of the discs in silver. We also have the carrier and calipers done too.
Brings a massive difference to the look of a car seeing new looking brakes rather than rusty corroded ones.

[n00bcar]

fwaggie said:

If you want to you can take the drums off (a good way to learn how to service your own drum brakes), then use a wire brush to remove the rust and paint them with Hammerite. You could clean the rust off and paint them without taking them off but where's the fun in that?

Do not paint the part that the wheel clamps too - that needs to be bare. Just paint the outer circumference.

Also good idea to clean the inside of the wheels while they're off so it all looks good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjBz-YEhK8A

P.S. Any automotive job is a great excuse to go and buy tools that you need. Impact driver, impact socket, hex and star driver set, ball pein hammer, penetrating oil, decent car jack and axle stands, protective gloves, protective overall, mechanics seat, degreaser and cleaner for the inside of the drum and mechanics, brake cleaner for the brake shoe surfaces.

Ok, maybe the seat and overall is a bit much

Thank you for the response. I watched that video and will follow it. When you mean wheel clamps, do you mean the parts I highlighted in the below picutre?


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Also thank you again for your help, this made everything clear for me

[n00bcar]

A1VDY said:

On all our sales cars, once the brakes are checked/replaced we paint the rear drums (if it has drums) black and both the outer edge and inner edges of the discs in silver. We also have the carrier and calipers done too.
Brings a massive difference to the look of a car seeing new looking brakes rather than rusty corroded ones.

That would look pretty cool do you have any pictures that I can use a reference?

[Baldchap]

He means don't paint this bit:

[n00bcar]

Baldchap said:

He means don't paint this bit:

oh thank you. Can I remove the rust off it? I just cant paint it right

[Krikkit]

n00bcar said:

Baldchap said:

He means don't paint this bit:

oh thank you. Can I remove the rust off it? I just cant paint it right

Yeah give it a wire brush, just don't expect it to stay nice.

[LuS1fer]

Krikkit said:

n00bcar said:

Baldchap said:

He means don't paint this bit:

oh thank you. Can I remove the rust off it? I just cant paint it right

Yeah give it a wire brush, just don't expect it to stay nice.

No, he means don't paint the flat metal face of the hub that the back of the wheel makes contact with.
You can paint the circumference of the wheel hub itself but NOT the area that the brake pads make contact with, obviously.
I also use a rust convertor on the circumference of the rotor (again, not on any braking surface) to turn the rust black - if you're fussy, like me, you can also paint the edges black. What it boils down to is that you can paint just about anything as long as it is not the two surfaces providing friction between the pad/rotor and shoe/drum or the pad retaining pins.
I favour e-Tech caliper paint on ebay which you brush on and it dries smooth, although some calipers are nice and smooth to paint and some are a bit rough. I painted the calipers, on mine, sky blue and the hub circumference black, to match the wheels.
You can paint the entirety of the drum, to be honest, just use the right paint.
For calipers, don't worry too much about the whole caliper, if you're not removing them. Just clean the back of the caliper with brake cleaner and an old toothbrush and mask off any areas that aren't going to be visible. Mask off any retaining pins and the pad area if not removing the caliper.

Safety: Always use axle stands, don't do it on a jack.

Finally, I always put the slightest smear of copper grease on the back of the wheels where they contact the hub as alloy wheels, especially, can corrode to the hub itself, but only a very thin smear and also on the centre bore to assist the wheel centre to locate. You can see I painted the hub centre whish also tend to rust, even if you can't see it.

Edited by LuS1fer on Wednesday 30th September 21:34

[steveo3002]

can coat that unpainted area with copper grease to prevent the wheel rusting on

[GreenV8S]

Hubs commonly have a center bore which is a precise fit to the wheel and keeps the wheel exactly centered. This is another surface that must not be painted. In general, don't paint any of the surfaces where the wheel, brake disc/drum and hub touch each other.

[A1VDY]

n00bcar said:

A1VDY said:

On all our sales cars, once the brakes are checked/replaced we paint the rear drums (if it has drums) black and both the outer edge and inner edges of the discs in silver. We also have the carrier and calipers done too.
Brings a massive difference to the look of a car seeing new looking brakes rather than rusty corroded ones.

That would look pretty cool do you have any pictures that I can use a reference?

Yes. When it's light I'll take a few pictures and post them up.

[Pothole]

This is a wind up, ins't it?

[A1VDY]

A Fiesta at the valeter we use.
Pretty basic stuff but detailing like this helps improve looks.
Pics could be better but I've just found these on file..

Edited by A1VDY on Thursday 1st October 06:43